3-5 lb boneless lamb shank

few cloves garlic, minced

1 lemon zest and juice

Olive oil

Oregano

Mint

Parsley

(you can add some thyme if you’d like)

Salt and pepper

Optional:

Few bay leaves

1 small stick cinnamon

2 star anise

½ tsp cumin/coriander/carraway seeds

A few carrots

an onion

few stalks of celery

1 onion thinly sliced

1 large tomato chopped or 1 small can

Few cloves of garlic

450g kale

225g orzo

3 cups stock/drippings

Salt and pepper

1. Rinse and unwrap lamb, dry well, slather with olive oil, rub herbs, lemon zest, and garlic all over. Salt and pepper well (more than you think, honestly). Add to gastra/roaster/dutch oven, throw in the other spices, onion, celery, and carrots, whatever garlic didnt stick, and the lemon juice. Add 1 cup stock. Braise covered 2 hrs at 300F or until lamb is tender.

2. When lamb is tender, remove the carrots and reserve. Remove lamb and place in smaller pan to brown with some of the fat drippings. Brown on low broil while you prep the orzo.

3. Drain the drippings and discard all but the liquid. Separate the fat from the juice. Add stock to make 3 cups juice.

4. Heat fat drippings and saute onion and garlic. Cook out a bit of tomato paste, if you’d like, or just add the tomato at this point. Add the kale, cover, and cook until it wilts. Add orzo, some olive oil, saute. Once orzo is covered in oil add the stock, season to taste, mix, cover, and return to oven at 350F for about ½ hour. Cook until orzo is soft and most liquid is absorbed.

5. Stir to combine, break lamb into large pieces, arrange lamb and carrots on orzo. You can return it to the oven to warm but everything should get pretty warm as it rests covered. Goes nice with some hard grated cheese like asiago or parm on top.