Tonight we do Lamb Shanks. You can call this one a Mediterranean-esque recipe, well, at least with respect to the flavours. It’s got briny olives, sweet sun-dried tomatoes and olive oil. Flavoured with fresh herbs – fragrant rosemary and lemony thyme and sauced up with red wine and stock. Sounds yummy right?

Yep, I’d say so!

This dish is another one of my “Cooking with Wine” recipes. If ya haven’t figured it out yet, I like cooking with wine. The flavour and dimension it adds to this dish is phenomenal. Oh…and it’s a great excuse to use up any leftover vino you’ve got in the fridge (just saying). And for all you non-wine lovers out there ….not to worry, if you don’t want to use wine just substitute with some water or stock. Simple!

Now this is one of those set it and fugget kinda meals. Not to be confused with fugget about it, we don’t want that.

The maximum effort required – prepping the ingredients and searing the meat. For slow cooked stews, or braised meats such as this I always sear the meat first. Always! What this does is intensify the flavour of the dish. How?

Searing Meat

Searing essentially caramelizes the outside layer of your meat. This in turn creates rich flavour and intense depth…and that’s what you want for the ultimate stews, braised and slow cooked meats and this lamb recipe. You’ve probably heard this one – “the brown bits have all the flavour”, and it’s so true. So, I’d strongly suggest you never ever skip this step.

Low and Slow

As far as the cooking process goes, this is another one of my “Low and Slow” dishes. Cooking meat on a low heat allows a gradual, slow breakdown of the muscle mass, resulting in the most fork tender meat ever. I mean EVER!!! Now I dunno bout you, but I think we’ve long passed the caveman/cavewoman phase.

I don’t want to be fighting with my lamb. No sir! And I don’t want to use it as a club. Nope. And I definitely don’t want an enhanced jaw from chewing on tough meat (lookout for this trend…you never know when enhanced jaws might be a thing….fish lips/over exaggerated pouts seem to be all the rage these days).

Anyways…I want tender meat with little effort and that’s what this easy lamb recipe is all about. Low and slow is the technique I use for this one and recipes that utilize tougher cuts of meat.

The slow cooked process does all the work in this easy lamb recipe. It develops those flavours, tenderizes the meat and creates a yummy gravy. The gravy is commendable on it’s own…just gotta say.

I love having this one with my homemade Sourdough Bread ….it does a good job of sopping up that gravy. You could serve this dish with your choice of bread, or whatever side you choose. Mashed potatoes, rice, even a side of couscous. Any which way, it’ll be delicious!

It’s definitely one of my favourite easy lamb recipes that yields the most tender lamb shanks ever!

Tender Lamb Shanks

Recipe by Amelia Does DinnerCourse: Main, MeatsCuisine: MediterraneanDifficulty: Easy

Prep time

5

minutes

Cooking time

2

hours 

Ingredients

• 1tbsp olive oil

• 2 lamb shanks

• 1 cup chopped parsley

• 1 shallot chopped

• 4 garlic cloves smashed

• A few sprigs thyme

• 1 sprig Rosemary

• 8 olives halved

• 3 Sun-dried tomatoes roughly chopped

• 1 tbsp smoked paprika

• Salt and Pepper to Taste

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 1 cup red wine

• 3 cups chicken stock

• Water (enough to barely cover)

Directions

• On medium high heat, add the Olive oil to the pot.
• On high heat, sear the meat on all sides, then reserve to the side.
• Lower the heat to medium, then add the shallots, cook for about 1 min. Add the garlic cloves and 3/4 cup chopped parsley. Cook for an additional min.
• Add the smoked paprika and toss everything around in the pot. When the spice gets fragrant (about 20 secs) add the wine.
• Add the stock and enough water to cover, add the thyme.
• Bring to a boil, cover the pot. Reduce the heat to a simmer (low).
• After an hour, remove the lid and check on the liquids, if most of the liquid has been absorbed, add about a cup more water.
• Cover and continue to cook for an additional hour. Check in after 30 mins (to ensure there’s enough liquid in the pot)
• In the last 15- 20 mins of cooking, remove the lid. If there’s alot of liquid, increase the heat to high and cook till most of the liquid has been reduced. There should be enough liquid for a gravy so adjust your heat and cooking times suitably.
• Taste for salt, and add salt and pepper to your liking.
• Add the Rosemary, Sun-dried tomatoes and olives and garnish with 1/4 cup reserved parsley.

Recipe Video