Lamb Shanks With Pearl Barley Risotto Recipes

LAMB SHANKS WITH PEARL BARLEY RISOTTO

Steps:

• Pre-heat fan forced oven to 150 degrees celsius. Season lamb shanks with salt and pepper before browning all over in a hot pan. Take a deep oven proof dish and add to it the red wine, chopped carrots, roughly chopped red onion, bouquet garni and the browned lamb shanks. Cover tightly with foil and place in the oven, basting the lamb every hour for four hours.
• 45 minutes before you remove the lamb shanks from the oven, start preparing your risotto. Heat a good amount of olive oil in a pot and add the finely chopped onion. Stir until caramelised and add the finely chopped garlic. Stir in the chopped mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes. Add the pearl barley and stir well before adding enough stock to cover the mixture. Stir this through and simmer until most of the liquid is absorbed. Add more stock and continue this process until all of the stock has been used. Taste the barley and test to see if it is aldenté. If not, add more stock (if you have any) or water and cook until tender. When the barley is tender, stir through the spinach and parmesan. Season to taste.
• To serve, place a generous spoon full of risotto on each plate or bowl and top with a gorgeously tender lamb shank. Spoon over the pan juices and vegetables from the lamb dish.

LAMB SHANK AND BARLEY SOUP

Steps:

• Trim any excess fat from the lamb shanks. Place into a large saucepan or boiler. Along with the water/stock and salt.
• Bring slowly to the boil and simmer gentley for 1 1/2 hours.
• Skim/remove any excess fat from the top of the stock with a spoon and/pr paper towel.
• Return the stock to the stove and add all remaining ingredients. Simmer for another 1 1/2 hours.
• Remove the meat from the bones and chop into chunky pieces. Return meat to the stock and discard the bones.
• Reheat to serve. Serve sprinkled with chopped parsley or a sprig of parsley as garnish.
• This can be finely processed for babies and frozen in serving sizes.

BRAISED LAMB SHANKS WITH BARLEY

Steps:

• In heavy skillet or dutch oven, brown lamb shanks in hot olive oil. Remove shanks and set aside.
• Saute onion, garlic and spices in oil until onion is soft.
• At this point you can transfer the entire dish to the crock pot, or cook it in the dutch oven. Add salt, barley, tomatoes, tomato paste, water (and wine if desired) to shanks. Make sure all the barley is immersed in liquid.
• TO BAKE: Cover Dutch oven closely and bake in a 325 degree oven for 3 hours or until shanks are very tender and falling off the bone.
• CROCKPOT: Cook the dish on "Low" for at least 8 hours. I found it easiest to assemble the night before and then just plug in the crockpot when I leave for work in the morning.
• In either case, turn off the heat and let the dish sit uncovered for 10-20 minutes. Use a tablespoon and skim off any excess fat from the top before serving.