Lamb shoulder

A while ago I bought lamb shoulder chops at the farmers' market and had no idea what to do with them. I had never cooked lamb before and definitely not a shoulder. I found a recipe and have made it once or twice. Using lamb with rosemary, tomatoes, onions and kalamata olives you really can't go wrong. From memory this is what I came up with.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon cooking oil
2 lamb shoulders (look like pork chops, not some giant hunk of meat)
1 big onion
2-3 cloves of garlic
12 cherry tomatoes or a can on diced tomatoes
12 kalamata olives (or kalamata tapenade if it a pinch)
2-3 tablespoons rosemary

Method:

Heat oil in a pan over medium high heat. Brown the lamb on both sides, about 5 minutes per side. Set aside.

Slice the onions and chop the garlic. Add the onions and garlic to the pan to sautee. While they are cooking slice the tomatoes. I smashed them up a bit to get some juice out of them. A can of tomatoes works better because the juice makes a good sauce. Chop up the rosemary. Add the tomatoes and rosemary to the onions, mix it all up. Add the lamb to finish cooking with the onions and tomatoes in the pan. Since I had only kalamata tapenade I spooned a couple scoops and mixed it up to get the flavor. If you are using whole kalamata olives throw them in to get hot with everything.


Pile the onions on a plate and stick the lamb on top. I garnished with more tapenade. Bon appetit!