Baked Lamb Shanks With Orzo Pasta (Arni Youvetsi)

This recipe makes me travel just by its smell and by its look. If I close my eyes when I’m sitting with this dish in the middle of the table, I can easily imagine how it would feel to be in a warm, crowded and noisy tavern in Greece. Most of the time this recipe will be made with Lamb’s legs, but this time I made it with Lamb Shanks and I like it a lot! The Arni Youvetsi is a Sunday dish and quite honestly… I think it’s perfect!!! Is there a better day to spend your time cooking and enjoying some comfort food like this with peoples you love? I don’t think so.

For 4

INGREDIENTS:

4 Lamb Shanks
1/2 cup olive oil
4 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1 can whole tomatoes 796 ml
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup beef broth
5 green onions chopped in 1-inch pieces
1/2 lemon juice
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp sweet Paprika
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp dry oregano
1/3 cup fresh Italian parsley chopped
1 ¼ cup Orzo pasta
1 ½ cup pasta cooking water
Fine sea salt and black ground pepper

PREPARATION:

Preheat the oven at 350°F.
In a little bowl, mix the olive oil, the lemon juice, the garlic and the paprika.
In a large Dutch oven pot put the Lamb Shanks and rub them with the seasoned olive oil. Massage them. Season well with the fine sea salt and the black ground pepper.
Add the tomatoes and break them roughly. Add the green onions, the honey, the cinnamon stick, the oregano and the Italian parsley. Put in the oven and roast for 30 minutes.
Add the beef broth and the white wine. Season with more fine sea salt and black ground pepper. Mix well and then put it back in the oven for 2 hours. You can turn the Lamb Shanks when cooked halfway.
About 15 minutes before the end of the 2 hours in a large pot, bring water to boil with a little amount of olive oil and cook the orzo pasta. They must be under cooked. Stop the cooking 3 minutes before the recommended time on the package. Don’t forget to save 1 ½ cup of the cooking water.
When the time is done for the Lamb Shanks, add the orzo pasta with the cooking water. Mix gently the orzo and the water in the tomato sauce and try not to get any Orzo pasta on the Lamb Shanks. The pasta must be in the sauce.
Return in the oven for 15 more minutes. The pasta will absorb a part of the fluid, and they will end cooking. Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes. Adjust the seasoning and WELCOME TO GREECE!!!

Put the dish straight on the table and let your guests serve themselves! It’s a part of the experience. You will feel that you really share the meal. It’s so convivial. I like it so much! We can really feel the Greece.

Love you!!! ♡

Sefra