Greek Style Lamb Shank with Orzo

isn't it weird how a recipe can take you back to a certain moment in time well this Greek style lamb does this for me and it reminds me of time spent with my dad in Detroit it's a tasty braised lamb shank in a delicious Greek style tomato sauce and served up over a bed of orzo and we're going to be doing this in partnership with my friends over at the American landlord the first thing we're going to do though is knock on a little prep sound good let's cook I've got one large yellow onion you could also use a sweet or a white onion here slice off the end slice it in half remove that outside peel and guess what this time we're not going to dice it what I am going to do though is finely grate it on a micro plane grater we want these to be very very small so that they incorporate into the tomato sauce with ease it will be a little pulpy just like this we're going to do the exact same process with about four garlic cloves do these in separate bowls and then just simply set them to the side so when researching this recipe I call my good buddy Chris who's a chef and is Greek and I asked him about mirepoix onion celery garlic can I add that in there and he said yeah we're Greek we put whatever the heck we want in our food I got it it I like that mentality so if you'd like we're going to grade up a little bit of carrot and a little bit of celery now we're going to be doing that exact same process we want to integrate it right into the sauce so we are going to finely grate up one rib of celery and then I have one medium sized carrot which we are going to peel and then again finely grate into the bowl you can do it into the same one with the celery no problem and now for the lamb shanks I have four in total they weigh in between 14 ounces to one pound each or about 400 to 450 grams each these are 100 American lamb shanks they come from the bottom section of the lake just below the knee this cut is perfect for slow cooking until it falls off the bone what we want to do at this stage is generously season it on all sides with sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper then I'm going right over to the cooktop where I have a seven quart or 6.6 liter Rondo pot we're next going to add in three tablespoons or 455 milliliters of olive oil then we're going to turn the heat up to high we want to get this oil smoking just like this once it is to this smoke point we're next going to add in our lamb be sure to space it out that's why I love the Rondo pop because it leaves plenty of room to sear and not steam excellent once all the lamb is in there we are going to turn the heat down to medium high and we're going to take the time to sear this lamb on all sides we want it brown on all four sides this is just going to make this dish that much more flavorful once they are perfectly golden brown just like this and we're talking two to three minutes per side we're going to take them out of the pan and set them to the side on a plate and look if you feel the oils a little bit too dark too Brown from searing up that lamb no problem just discard it and we'll start off with fresh oil before we cook our onions adding that same Rondo pot right back to the burner got rid of that old cooking oil adding in three more tablespoons or 45 milliliters of fresh olive oil we're about medium heat I'm adding in the onions it's a little bit too hot so I'm going to turn the heat down to low low medium something like that we are going to take the time to Brown these up very well now for a full caramelization it's not going to take 45 minutes or so it's probably going to take around 20 minutes and comey's you know I say it in every single video take the time to get that beautiful sear not only on the lamb also on the onions it will make this dish that much more flavorful we're not in a rush we want perfect delicious food I promise you it'll be worth it it's been about 15 minutes or so let's go back and check out the onions I like to stir it maybe every three to four minutes you see that beautiful brown on there already absolutely gorgeous this is going to go a long way in our dish so at this stage we're going to add in the carrots and celery we're just gonna cook this for maybe three to four minutes bring out some nice flavors nothing too crazy then at this stage we're going to add in the garlic and you know how I roll as soon as it's fragrant as soon as you smell it it's done and that only takes about 30 to 45 seconds now at this stage we're going to add in one cup or 236 milliliters of red wine a Cabernet Sauvignon a Merlot or if you can get a good Greek red wine please do it next I have two 28 ounce cans or 1588 grams in total of whole peeled Tomatoes you know I love San Marzano tomatoes so I'm going in there and I'm crushing them by hand you could also use canned tomatoes I've got a great recipe for home canned tomatoes from my garden you can use that as well but crush them up by hand just like this now at this stage let's go back over to the Rondo pot you can see that the wine is all SEC or almost gone it's been absorbed and incorporated into everything that helps concentrate the flavor let's pour the tomatoes right in there then we're going to add in two teaspoons or a half gram of dry oregano one teaspoon or one gram of dry thyme leaves one cinnamon stick or two and a half grams of ground eight allspice berries or one gram of ground allspice then we want to generously season it with salt and fresh black pepper now you want to adjust the seasonings here because this is going to be our braising liquid and it's going to influence the flavor of our lamb so once it's mixed together get a spoon and try it see if it needs more of something else and make sure it's good to go I'm sure you're already thinking allspice berries cinnamon in tomato sauce I promise you it is incredibly classic to do so my buddy the chef who's also Greek said the same thing definitely do it in return it is going to make the sauce more delicious and then the lamb is going to be that much more flavorful bear with me it is all good here's what we do now add the lamb right back into that pot they do not need to be completely submerged at all now once they are in there we're going to add on a lid adding it to the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit or 176 degrees Celsius it's going to take about two and a half hours for it to be fork tender so the first time I ever had this dish I was visiting my parents while in college and we went to Creek Town in Detroit there's a casino there maybe I was at the blackjack table maybe not anyways afterwards we went to a restaurant called Pegasus we both ordered the Greek style lamb shank it came out the sauce so good the lamb fell right off the bone the orzo pasta all of it awesome so every time I go back we always go there it always revokes those memories in my brain and takes me back to that original moment that I had always spending time my dad which I love every single time I get to do it that's why food is so cool and so powerful because it can just transfer us back to those moments I love it all right don't go that far because we're going to come back we need to boil off some orzo once our lamb is getting close to being finished all right we are rounding third let's cook up some orzo I've got a large pot of boiling salted water remember it should be as seasoned and as salty as the ocean we're going to add in one pound or 454 grams of orzo pasta I like to move it around with a rubber spatula spoon just to make sure nothing sticks together this Cooks till Al Dente or to the tooth in about six to seven minutes so it cooks very quickly once it is finished we're just going to drain it off completely give it a few shakes just to make sure most of the water is out of there and then what I'm going to do this is totally optional I'm just going to add it back to a saute pan and add in about a quarter cup or 60 milliliters of extra virgin olive oil it's going to add some nice Olive flavors got a lot of Greek in this dish then we're going to generously season up with salt no reason for fresh cracked black pepper if you want fine no worries just stir it in there give it a quick little saute for about two to three minutes then set it to the side you definitely have options with the orzo you could finish it with a little feta cheese make it nice and cheesy or a hint of lemon I like to keep it very simple very easy so I can taste all that lamb and this is just a compliment all right the lamb is done we're going to take it out looks amazing smells amazing always goes back to these techniques I always tell you practice them over and over again I promise you your homemade food from scratch will always be better every single time let me show you how to Plate this up I'm going to add a good amount of that cooked orzo right to the bottom of a bowl then adding on one lamb shank it is perfect smells incredible then we're gonna top off with a lot more of that sauce be very generous here and then optionally I've got some chopped fresh oregano Thyme and parsley so good the smells the flavors so good I wish my dad was here he would be like this is exactly like Pegasus all the memories coming back while making this I'm pretty sure you and your family are really gonna dig this and if you just love lamb definitely check out my roasted bone and leg of lamb oh incredible I've got an awesome recipe video I'll see you on there

Channel: Chef Billy Parisi

Views: 16,947

Keywords: greek food, easy recipes, greek recipes, best greek food, greek street food, greek food tour, lamb, lamb recipe, greek tomato sauce, greek tomato sauce recipe, orzo, orzo pasta, orzo recipe, greek orzo, greek orzo recipe, greek lamb, greek lamb recipes, greek lamb shanks, greek lamb shanks in tomato sauce, billy parisi, chef billy parisi, chef billy

Id: 3wgFOee3VJg

Length: 9min 35sec (575 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 24 2023