Florentine Lamb Pot Roast with Black Olives

Family Meal, Great Leftovers, Rewarms Well

While steak Florentine cooked over wood is justifiably famous, fine braised dishes are also typical of Tuscan cuisine. After we tried this dish at a friend’s home in Tuscany, Cathy Whims, the chef at Nostrana in Portland, Oregon, and the Italian food expert Faith Willinger talked our host into sharing her recipe. Cathy fine-tuned it a bit and shared her version with me. Like so many great Italian recipes, this relies on only a few good ingredients to produce a delicious result. Cathy likes to use Italian olives, such as brine-cured Gaeta olives or mild, herby, and aromatic tagasaste. If you can find them, use them, but she has also had good results with niçoise olives and the easyto-find Greek kalamata olives.

Serves 6 to 8

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 3- to 4-pound boned and tied lamb shoulder roast, trimmed of excess fat
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil (I use Tuscan)
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes (I use San Marzano), drained and chopped
• 1¼ cups pitted Gaeta, taggiasca, niçoise, or kalamata olives (see Cook’s Notes)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Season the lamb all over with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the lamb and brown on all sides, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
2. Reduce the heat to medium, add the garlic and rosemary, and cook, stirring, until the garlic is pale gold, about 2 minutes. Add the white wine, scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot, and boil until the wine has almost evaporated, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the tomatoes and olives and return the lamb to the pot, fat side up. Cover and cook over low heat for 1½ to 2 hours, or until the meat is tender. Remove the lamb from the sauce and cover with aluminum foil. Degrease the sauce and, if it is too thin, boil to reduce it and concentrate the flavors. Season to taste with more salt and pepper.
4. Remove the twine from the lamb and discard. Slice the meat and spoon over some sauce. Serve, passing the remaining sauce at the table.

ALTERNATIVE CUTS:

• Bone-in lamb shoulder; shoulder lamb chops; boneless leg of lamb, whole or cut into 2-inch chunks; or bone-in goat shoulder, whole or cut into chops.

COOK’S NOTES:

• Gaeta olives come from the village of Gaeta in central Italy and are sold salt cured or wet-brined; use the brined variety. They have a pleasant taste and a mild, salty flavor. Taggiasca olives are also mild and are cured in brine with herbs, such as bay, rosemary, and thyme. Serve the meat over creamy polenta.
• To cook this as a stew, cut the meat into 2-inch chunks, season with salt and pepper, toss in all-purpose flour to coat, and proceed with the recipe. You may have to brown the meat in batches.

LEFTOVER:

• Serve leftovers cut into pieces, along with the sauce, over pasta. Or use the braising liquid as a sauce for pasta and serve with grated pecorino cheese.