Slow Cooked Lamb Shanks with red wine and rosemary
Served with a creamy potato mash, slow cooked lamb shanks is a great comfort food style of dish for a great Sunday lunch or weeknight dinner.Lamb shanks used to be a cheap cut of meat, but as this style of recipe became popular in bistros and homes across the country . . . well each sheep only has 4 shanks!
Equipment
- casserole pot
- Slow Cooker
- Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 4 lamb shanks , trimmed of excess fat, (1 per person)
- 2 tablespoons Olive Oil, divided
- 2 lge white onions, , sliced
- 6 cloves garlic , minced
- 2 lge carrots, sliced 1/2-inch thick
- 3 sticks celery, , finely sliced
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 375 ml red wine, Merlot Pinot Noir, or Chianti, or substitute with stock
- ¼ cup flour plain
- 2 cups beef stock
- 600 g passata , or a can of diced tomatoes (if cooking more than 4 shanks, use 800gms tomato)
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon rosemary, dry, fresh, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons parsley, dry, sticks, finely chopped (divided)
- 2 bay leaves
- 500 g potatoes, , boiled and mashed with milk and butter
- 200 g green beans, , trimmed and lightly steamed
- salt and pepper to season
Instructions
- Wash and pat dry each lamb shank with paper towel, then rub with olive oil, season with pepper and salt, and let it rest while you start the other prep.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large, heavy-based pot over medium-high heat. Sear two shanks in the hot oil until browned on all sides. Repeat with remaining shanks and oil. Transfer to a plate or bowl and cover with foil or a clean tea towel.
- Next, sauté the carrots, celery and diced onions until softened, (about 5 minutes), then add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the bay leaves and other herbs and 1 tablespoon of butter. Stir in the tomato paste and fry it off in the butter a little while raising the heat. Now pour in the red wine, reducing the wine and deglazing the pot.
- Return the shanks back into the pot; season with 1 teaspoon coarse salt and 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper. Sprinkle the meat with flour, and gently mix it into the sauce. Add stock and passata. Bring to a simmer.
- This first part of the process is the same, regardless of whether you intend to cook on a stove-top, oven, slow cooker or pressure cooker. The next step is to cook the meal until the meat is tender and falls off the bone, and also reduce or prepare the sauce until it has the desired consistency.
- If cooking on a stove, cover the pot and simmer on low base heat and check after 15 minutes to ensure the liquid is just simmering very slowly. If using the oven, set to 160C. The ideal cooking time for stove or oven is around 2 hours. Slow cooker, you will know your settings and routine, but it could be 6 to 8 hours. Pressure Cooker possibly around 30 minutes.
- When cooking time is up, turn off the heat, take the lid off and let it settle for a minute. You will likely see little pool off translucent red fat pooling on the surface. I believe excess lamb fat can make the dish taste a little bitter. So, before I disturb the dish, I take the time to skim off these pools using a soup spoon into a cup. (tip into the bin, not down the sink).
- Now, when you have your meat as you like it, gently remove the shanks onto a bowl and cover to keep warm. Discard the bay leaves from the sauce and place the pot onto the stove.
- Now taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning as necessary. Next, simmer sauce over medium heat until thickened to your desired consistency. If the sauce is too thin, simmer it over medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until reduced to the right consistency.
- For a quicker method to thicken the sauce once the shanks are cooked through and tender, mix 1 or 2 tablespoons of corn flour with ¼ cup of the sauce from the pot until completely dissolved. Pour the mixture into the simmering sauce, stirring quickly until completely blended. Let simmer for 4-5 minutes, or until thickened to desired consistency.
- Garnish with chopped parsley and serve over a creamy potato mash with greens.
Notes
This is a slow cooked meal. Relax and organise your time so you don’t rush the end. The recipe will give you the flavour, the slow cooking will give you tender meat and more flavour from the bone marrow.
I usually serve lamb shanks over mash and don’t start the potatoes until I have started final stage or reducing the sauce. This way, you get the dish just as you like it. If it’s thickened too much add a little more stock with a knob of butter at the end to give the sauce “eyes”.
Nutrition
Calories: 581kcalCarbohydrates: 49gProtein: 48gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 128mgSodium: 523mgPotassium: 2047mgFiber: 7gSugar: 11gVitamin A: 1364IUVitamin C: 48mgCalcium: 120mgIron: 8mg
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