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Lamb Chops With Green Tomatoes

5.0(382)

Lamb chops cooked with tomatoes is traditional, but less so when the tomatoes are green. Here, unripe, green tomatoes add acidity, which works nicely with the rich gaminess of the shoulder chops. If you can’t get green tomatoes, you can make this with the half-green, half-red tomatoes, the kind that haven’t fully ripened on the vine before they need to be picked in advance of a frost. In a pinch you can even use tomatillos or bland, out-of-season supermarket tomatoes, which will add the necessary juiciness and vegetable matter to the pan if not the same complexity of flavor (a squeeze of lemon would help). In any case, make sure to taste before stirring in the honey, since the acid content of tomatoes varies widely. And if you aren’t a lamb lover but are wondering what to do with a plethora of green tomatoes, you can make this recipe with pork chops; just add a few minutes to the cooking time.

by Melissa Clark

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Dinner, Steaks And Chops, Main Course

Servings

4 servings

Total time

30 min

Calories / serving

424 kcal

Ingredients (11)

serves

4 (1-inch thick) bone-in shoulder lamb chops or boneless sirloin lamb chops
2 teaspoons ground coriandercoriander
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, more as neededsalt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, more as neededpepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, more as neededolive-oil
2 large shallots, choppedshallot
6 anchovy fillets
3 1/2 cups diced green tomatoes (2 to 3 tomatoes)
2 garlic cloves, mincedgarlic
1 to 2 teaspoons honey, to tastehoney
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil, for garnishbasil

Instructions (4 steps)

01Season lamb chops with coriander, salt and pepper. If you have time, let meat rest at room temperature for 30 minutes, or in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.
02Heat a very large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil; once it thins and runs all over the pan, add lamb. Cook meat, without moving, until undersides are golden brown, about 2 minutes. Turn and cook other side until golden, about 2 minutes more. It should still be very rare inside. Transfer lamb to a plate.