When the father-in-law arrives in the door with a bag of lamb shanks you don’t say no. Not one word was exchanged between us while chowing down the following recipe.
Cuisine
French
Prep time
30 min
Total time
300 min
Serves
4
Ingredients
Lamb shanks4
carrots, peeled and diced2
leek, washed and diced1
celery sticks, diced2
onion, peeled and diced1
garlic cloves, minced2
of red wine1 cups
of beef stock2 cups
tomato paste1 tbsp
vegetable oil2 tbsp
bay leaf1
sprigs of rosemary2
sea salt and ground black pepper
Directions
I use a roasting tin for this but anything really that will hold 4 shanks and withstand both cooking on the hob and in the oven will do. Season shanks all over with some salt and pepper. Add the vegetable oil to your hot roasting tin and on your hob, brown shanks all over. When nicely coloured set to one side.
Lower the heat of your roasting tin. Add the carrots, onion, celery and leeks and cook until just softened, about 4-6 minutes. Add minced garlic and cook for a further minute. Add the tomato paste and give it a good stir until everything is coated in it.
Pour in red wine and increase the heat. Reduce wine until nearly completely reduced. Add stock, rosemary and bay leaves. Now add your shanks into the cooking liquid. Season with some salt and pepper. Bring it to the boil and cover with tinfoil and put directly into the oven. Cook the lamb for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Halfway through cooking turn the shanks, baste and return to oven. They are ready when the meat is falling off the bone.
Strain the liquid through a fine sieve into a container and discard the vegetables. Serve the shanks on some vegetable purée or potato mash. Pour the retained juice over and enjoy.
