Lamb Chops with Artichoke & Spinach – AKA: The Amount of Butter and Cream in Here is Wild!

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“He don’t eat no meat? What do you mean he don’t eat no meat? Oh, that’s ok, that’s ok…I make lamb…”

See? No meat here, just artichoke, spinach…and lamb. “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” aside, lamb is one of my favorite things to cook. I don’t have it as much as I would like, but when I do, it’s always a nice treat. That distinct earthy and grassy flavor is such a departure from more common pork and beef fare.

This combination isn’t really based on any dish in particular, just possibly something my Mediterranean Balkan ancestors may have put together for a nice occasion. The only thing that takes any time for this one is the artichoke, but it is really just time – “set and forget” if you will.

Let the flavors of the Adriatic and the Aegean really soak in. If you partake, enjoy a nice Zinfandel or Primitivo (or Plavac Mali or Xinomavro if you’re a true wine nerd) whose boldness and slight spice will really enhance the robust flavors of this dish. Živjeli!

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Serving Size: 1 You or Me. Double recipe for each additional human person.

• 2 Lamb Chops
• 4 Heaping Fistfuls of Spinach (whatever that measures to)
• 2 Tbsp. Garlic, minced
• 1 whole Shallot, minced
• 2 tsp. fresh Rosemary, minced (use 1 tsp. if dried)
• 2 tsp. dried Oregano
• 2 tsp. dried Thyme
• 4 Tbsp. Salted Butter
• 4 Tbsp. Heavy Cream (add a little more if you want)
• 1 tsp. Lemon Juice
• Kosher and Sea Salts
• Fresh Ground Black Pepper
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Neutral Cooking Oil (Avocado, Canola, etc.)

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1.) We’re going to steam the artichoke, sauté the spinach in sauce, and brown the lamb and then finish it in the oven. Start by getting a steamer ready. I use a stock pot with a steamer basket insert for reference.

First trim off the stem AND slice off the top of the artichoke and clip off the ends of the leaves. The leaves are more for aesthetics, but the top is important because you are going to rest the vegetable on its top in the basket to steam. Once your water is boiling, reduce heat to medium, add the artichoke top-first into the middle of your steamer, cover, and just let it gooo. Check it at 30 minutes in, so lets do some other stuff.

2.) Take out your lamb chops. You’ll want to coat all sides with kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper. Shortest. Step. Ever.

3.) You may be tempted to cook that lamb right now, but first we need to make the sauce and spinach. This also gives the lamb a little while to soak in the newly applied dry rub. Now, meander out into to your herb garden and pick some fresh rosemary. Relish the sound of the chirping birds and the smell of freshly cut grass as you wander towards that glorious bushel. What? You don’t have an herb garden? I have a 1 square foot postage stamp of a balcony and I have an herb garden. Fine. If you don’t have fresh herbs at home, go on and buy some from the store. The rest of the herbs in the recipe are dried anyway.

Get out a medium or large stainless steel pan and preheat to medium. Mince up all your herbs and spices and apply neutral oil to your pan. Add your shallots, and let them cook for a minute. Then add your garlic, herbs, butter, cream and finally lemon juice, in that order. It would be a good idea to throw in a pinch of sea salt and a bit of pepper as well and stir it up until everything is melted and mixed.

At first glance, it might look like you’re going to cook WAY too much spinach. It may come as a surprise if you’ve never cooked spinach before, but what looks like 4 metric tons of spinach will cook down to just enough to create a small bed on the bottom of your dish. That’s your cue to add the spinach to your pan. Stir that up until it is fully cooked down and then take off the heat and save for later.

4.) Now it’s time for the main event! First, preheat your oven to 350 F. Take out your trusty cast iron skillet or an oven ready stainless steel one and preheat it to medium-high. Apply your neutral cooking oil to the pan, let it warm and place your chops right on down. Brown for about 1.5 minutes top and bottom each depending on how long it takes to get your desired brownness level. then brown the sides for about 30 seconds each.

Take the chops still in the pan and slide it into the preheated oven for an additional 8 minutes, which should bring your internal temperature measured by a meat thermometer somewhere in the 130’s F. This will give you a medium rare meat, so cook less or more for your desired doneness.

5.) I like to keep the chops in the pan on the turned off stovetop to keep them warm while others like to transfer them to a cool plate as to not possibly continue cooking them. Chose whichever you wish and spend the time while they “rest” to plate your spinach and artichoke.

Oh yeah! The artichoke! You didn’t forget about that thing did you? Better go check on it! After 30 minutes, if the leaves can be pulled right off with no effort, it’s done. If there is still some resistance, cook it a few more minutes until it’s easy as pie (which we don’t have) to pull ’em off.

Plate your bed of spinach by grabbing it with tongs and letting as much of the liquid drain while keeping as much of the shallots, garlic, and herbs still clinging to the spinach. By plating the spinach and NOT using all of the sauce as well, you have the option of spooning the sauce on top of the plated chops later which will not drown the already saturated dish.

I sliced the artichoke in half lengthwise, but you can keep it whole if you wish and I tucked it on the outer edge of the plate. Place your chops on top of the spinach as seen in the photos and you can keep them plain or spoon the remaining sauce in the pan on top, it’s up to you.

For a dip for the artichoke, well, I don’t have one for this recipe, the lamb blew the budget on this one. Just open up a jar of mayo and dig in. Deal with it. Being serious though, you might as well use all that delicious buttery and creamy sauce you just made, oooorrrr, I do believe I have a tzatziki recipe somewhere around here…

Finish the whole thing with a drizzle of some good EVOO as the fancy chefs call it, and enjoy!