Meal in a roasting tray – lamb chops with cannellini beans, black olives and artichoke hearts

Every now and then we go on a long road trip, arriving late, and wanting to simply warm something up quickly whilst unwinding in a hot bath, with a warming, welcoming glass of red. A favourite always used to be A Sort of Cypriot Pasticcio, but recently we have changed allegiances to this.
It’s a complete meal in a roasting tin – no need for any extra carbs, the beans provide the energy.
Recipe for lamb chops with cannellini beans, black olives and artichoke hearts
Serves 2
Ingredients
- 2 x stalks of cherry tomatoes
- 1 jar char grilled artichokes – 160g/6 oz drained weight – in olive oil – NB don’t drain
- 110g/4 oz Crespo pitted black olives
- 400g/14 oz approx. lamb chops (two large ones each)
- a couple of springs of rosemary
- 1 x 400g/14 oz tin cannellini beans
- 1 fat clove of garlic, peeled and crushed with ½ tsp smoked salt
- juice and zest of a lemon
- a few basil leaves
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- Use a little of the artichoke oil to oil a roasting tin, and place the tomatoes (still on their vine), the olives, and the artichokes (leaving the oil) onto it. If the artichokes are whole, cut them into quarters, lengthways.
- Oil the lamb chops and then smother them with the garlic-salt mix.
- Push them in between the tomatoes and artichokes, and tuck in tufts of rosemary in between.
- Put the lot in the oven for 20 minutes. You may need longer if you have thick chops, but not if you are going to reheat this.
- Leave the meat to rest for about five minutes before serving with the basil leaves torn over.