Lamb Shanks Braised in Red Wine - Seasonal Recipe

Lamb Shanks Braised in Red Wine

🌍 Seasonal, Winter Difficulty: ●●●○○

Braised lamb shanks are a cold-weather tradition across the Mediterranean world; the shank — a hard-working muscle — requires long, slow cooking to transform from tough to silken, making it the canonical example of winter braising.

Ingredients

• 4 lamb shanks
• 1 bottle (750ml) full-bodied red wine
• 480ml (2 cups) lamb or chicken stock
• 1 can (400g/392g (14 oz)) crushed tomatoes
• 2 onions, diced
• 4 carrots, diced
• 4 stalks celery, diced
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 rosemary sprigs
• 3 thyme sprigs
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
• Salt and black pepper
• Gremolata (lemon zest + garlic + parsley) to finish

Method

1. Preheating — Preheat oven to 160°C (320°F). Season lamb shanks generously; dust lightly with flour.
2. Browning — Brown shanks in olive oil in a large Dutch oven over high heat, all sides, 8–10 minutes total. Remove; set aside.
3. Step 3 — In the same pot, sauté onions, carrots, and celery until soft and beginning to colour, 8 minutes. Add garlic and tomato paste; cook 3 minutes.
4. Adding — Add wine; bring to a boil, scraping up all browned bits. Add stock, tomatoes, rosemary, thyme, and bay leaves.
5. Step 5 — Return shanks to pot; liquid should come halfway up. Cover tightly.
6. Braising — Braise in oven 2.5–3 hours until meat is falling off the bone.
7. Removing — Remove shanks; skim fat from braising liquid; reduce by a third over high heat to a rich sauce. Return shanks to coat.
8. Serving — Serve on polenta, mash, or white beans. Scatter gremolata over.

Tags: lamb shanks, bottle full-bodied red wine, lamb or chicken stock, ) crushed tomatoes, onions · Source: Brittani's Almanac