Had some leftover parts from a lamb we bought last year. Never done lamb shanks before.

Ingredients:

  • 4 shanks
  • salt & pepper
  • oil to coat the bottom of the pot. I use canola or olive.
  • two onions
  • 3-4 carrots
  • 12 garlic cloves or 3 big spoon fulls of prepped garlic.
  • 3 stalks celery. I didn't have any this time.
  • 28oz can whole tomatoes.
  • 22oz beef broth. Spit 1/2 beef and 1/2 chicken also works.
  • 3/4 bottle of red wine (Cab or merlot). Got to save some for the cook.
  • 5 sprigs rosemary.
  • 5 sprigs thyme.
  • 4 bay leaves.


Cooking:

  • Salt & pepper the shanks and let sit for about 20 minutes.
  • Heat a large pot or dutch over to medium high and add enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan.
  • Braise, two shanks at a time, on all sides. Let all sides get brown. This will take about 30 minutes.
  • Set shanks on a plate and add onions, carrots, celery and garlic to the hot oil. Stir and scrape the bottom of the pot. The brown bits are flavor. Cook til caramelized. About 20 minutes.
  • Add tomatoes and juice to pot. I cut mine in half. Bring to boil.
  • Add wine, broth, rosemary, thyme and bay leaves.
  • Bring to boil and set to medium-medium high heat. Turn down if sticking occurs. Cook 20-30 minutes.
  • Add shanks back into the pot. They should be covered in liquid. If not add some more stock or water.
  • Cover and put in a pre-heated 400˚ oven.
  • Cook at least 2 hours, turning the shanks every 45 minutes.
  • Remove pot from oven and remove shanks from pot.
  • Simmer juices til desired thickness is obtained. Mine was pretty thick coming out of the oven and I was hungry, so I skipped this step.
  • Plate shanks and pour juices over shanks or off to the side.
  • Eat!


Fixin's

Lamb shanks

Braise

Ready for the oven

Out of the oven

Plated with roasted russets and sweet potatoes


This was one of the richest sauces I have ever made. The meat fell off the bone and could be cut with a fork.

This isn't a 30 minute meal!! Set aside at least 5 hours. Yes, 5 hours!

Definitely worth the time.