Put in the oven after lunch, and forget about it until dinner – this 5 hour lamb shank makes it own delicious rich sauce, and after a low slow afternoon in the oven is the tender, meaty, and comforting dish that’s perfect with a side of mash for cold winter evenings.
The slow cook on this lamb allows plenty of time to break down the proteins in the meat, the end result being no knife necessary – very tender lamb that pulls easily off the bone. Your vegetables will cook down, eventually softening into a mush and will be easily passable through a sieve to make your sauce. This is one of those dishes that is very forgiving, feel free to add extra chillies or a little harissa if you enjoy heat – but remember this is a long cook, so a little goes a long way. The black garlic and anchovy in this sauce are key ingredients that really add to the depth of flavour (add the anchovy even if you don’t like them – they work like a stock cube and will melt into your sauce).
Lamb shanks cooked low and slow until tender. A real crowd pleaser, and something perfect for a cold winters evening.
Ingredients
- 2 Lamb shanks (French trimmed)
- 3 rashers of smoked streaky bacon, finely chopped
- 1 large carrot, coarsely grated
- 1 stalk celery, coarsely grated
- 10 cherry tomatoes, halved
- 4 cloves of garlic: 1 crushed (or finely copped/grated), 2 whole (slashed), 1 black garlic (whole)
- 8 button mushrooms, finely chopped
- 4 banana shallots, halved, with one of those halves finely chopped.
- 1 whole chilli, slashed
- 4 sprigs thyme, (or 2 of rosemary)
- 3 anchovied
- 2 bay leaves
- A mug of chicken or beef stock
- Half a mug of Red Wine
- 2 Tablespoon tomato puree (ideally sundried tomato puree)
- Lea and Perrins
Instructions
- For this recipe you will need a pan with a large base and a lid. I use the Le Creuset Shallow Casserole dish.
- Put your pan on a medium heat, and add a small amount of rapeseed or vegetable oil. Fry your bacon for 2 mins then add your lamb shanks to the pan. Brown your lamb shanks, turning them to make sure all sides are browned. Remove from pan and set to one side.
- To the pan add the chopped shallot and the crushed garlic. Soften.
- Add the carrot, celery, and mushrooms. Cook down, making sure to scrape any brown from the bottom of the pan.
- Turn the heat up, then add the wine, stock, tomato puree, fresh tomatoes, chilli, thyme, bay leaves, whole garlic, black garlic, anchovy, and a splash of Lea and Perrins. Season generously with cracked pepper and salt. Mix until everything is covered in to stock and wine/
- Press in the halved shallots, then the two lamb shanks, nestling them in the bed of vegetables.
- Put the lid on your pan, and place into the center of a 150 degree oven, for 5 hours. the first 2.5 hours have the lid slightly ajar to let our steam. Half way through the time, remove the dish from the oven, turn over the shanks and baste them in your sauce. Place the lid fully on and cook for the final 2.5 hours.
- after the full cooking time remove your lamb shanks and place in your serving dish(es)
- Pass your cooked down vegetable, wine, stock mixture through a sieve to create a rich glossy sauce. If you would like your sauce to have more body (thickness), ad a tablespoon of the vegetable mix that wont pass through the sieve.
- Pour your sauce over your shanks - enjoy!
Notes
I like to serve this with mash - chunky chips or roast potatoes also work well, as do green vegetables.
The longer you cook this lamb, the more tender it will be. 5 hours is enough for it to be very tender - try 6 hours if you'd like it falling right off the bone.
The key to this dish is a nice wet mixture before putting the lamb into the oven. If you find your mixture is dry, add extra stock before putting in the oven.