Provençal Lamb with Garlic and Olives

Name: Provençal Lamb with Garlic and Olives
Yield: at least 8 servings
Ingredients: One 5-pound shoulder of lamb, without the bone; 6 cloves garlic, peeled, each cut into about 6 slivers; Salt and freshly ground pepper; 1/4 cup olive oil; 2 onions, peeled and diced; 1 carrot, peeled and diced; 2 tablespoons tomato paste; 3 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and cut into large chunks, or half a 28-ounce can peeled tomatoes; 3 cups beef broth; 4 large sprigs fresh thyme, or 1 teaspoon dried thyme or herbes de Provence; 1 1/2 cups green olives, pitted

December 9, 2011

Michel Kalifa is one of the few butchers in France who go through the laborious process of removing the many veins in a leg of lamb, a process that is integral to koshering. Because of the difficulties in koshering a leg of lamb, most people will use the shoulder, which he loves as well. Glancing lovingly at his wife, he said, “A thigh of a woman is as nimble and light as a shoulder of lamb.” Here is an old Jewish Provençal recipe for a shoulder of lamb. Make it, as Michel Kalifa would, with a caress of garlic.

Cooks' Note

If you’d like to make the dish in advance, refrigerate the lamb in the sauce overnight. Remove the fat that accumulates from the top, carve the lamb when cool, return the sliced lamb to the pot with the sauce, and simmer until warm, surrounded with the olives and vegetables.

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