Lamb Shanks With Tomatoes And Fresh Herbs Recipes

SLOW-COOKED LAMB SHANKS AND TOMATOES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat oil over medium-high. Add onions and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes (if using canned, break them up) and cook until they break down, 6 to 8 minutes.
• Place lamb shanks in pot in a single layer so each shank is covered by sauce. Bring to a boil, cover, then place pot in oven. Cook until meat is very tender and falling off bones, about 3 1/2 hours. Skim fat from cooking liquid and season lamb with salt and pepper. Serve lamb with sauce.

LAMB SHANKS WITH TOMATOES AND FRESH HERBS

Steps:

• Mix first 6 ingredients in small bowl; rub all over lamb. Let stand 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Heat oil in large ovenproof pot over medium-high heat. Add lamb and sauté until brown, turning with tongs, about 12 minutes; transfer to plate. Reduce heat to medium. Add capocollo and stir 1 minute. Add onion, carrots, and celery. Cover and cook until vegetables are soft, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Mix in garlic; cook 1 minute. Mix in lemon peel strips, bay leaves, and thyme. Add wine and bring to boil, scraping up browned bits. Add tomatoes and broth. Return lamb to pot. Bring to boil; cover and transfer pot to oven.
• Cook lamb until just tender, turning occasionally, about 1 1/2 hours. Remove pot from oven. Tilt pot and spoon off fat that rises to top of sauce. Place pot over medium heat and boil uncovered until sauce reduces enough to coat spoon and lamb is very tender, about 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Discard lemon peel and bay leaves. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cool 30 minutes, chill uncovered until cold, then cover and keep chilled. Rewarm over low heat before continuing.)
• Mix parsley, grated lemon peel, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in small bowl for gremolata. Transfer lamb to large shallow bowl. Sprinkle with gremolata and serve.

BRAISED LAMB SHANKS WITH FRESH HERBS

Steps:

• In a large bowl (or covered container) large enough to hold the lamb, mix together salt, paprika and pepper. Add shanks and rub all over with spice mix. Cover and marinate for at least 4 hours (or up to 24 hours) in the refrigerator.
• Heat oven to 325 degrees. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat a very thin film of olive oil. Sear the lamb in batches to avoid overcrowding the pan, adding more oil as needed. Take your time with this, making sure to brown the lamb all over. Transfer browned lamb to a roasting pan.
• When all the lamb is cooked, add onion to empty skillet and cook it in the lamb drippings, adding a more oil if pan looks dry, until limp and lightly browned at the edges, about 5 minutes.
• Add garlic, coriander, cayenne and allspice and cook until the garlic is very fragrant and opaque, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Pour in wine and bring to a simmer, scraping up the browned bits on bottom of pan. Let mixture simmer until thickened and reduced by about a third (about 5 minutes). Pour over lamb.
• In a bowl, toss together scallions, spicy greens, and herbs. Sprinkle lamb with half the herb mixture and set remaining half aside for serving. Cover pan with two layers of foil (or heavy-duty foil) and bake until meat is falling off the bones, 3 to 3 1/2 hours total, turning shanks every hour so they cook evenly. If the bottom of the pan starts to dry out before lamb is done, add a few tablespoons of the stock or water to moisten it.
• When shanks are tender, transfer to a heated serving platter and cover with foil to keep warm. If you like, at this point you can tear the meat off the bones; or, serve the shanks bone-in.
• On top of the stove, heat roasting pan over medium-low heat. If pan is dry, add remaining stock or water and bring to a simmer. (If drippings in pan seem very fatty, spoon off some of the fat.) Add currants and bring drippings to a simmer, scraping up the browned bits on bottom of pan.
• Once the liquid is reduced to a thin glaze, add butter to pan along with all but 2 tablespoons of the remaining herbs (save those 2 tablespoons for garnish). Whisk sauce until smooth, then taste and add lemon juice as needed. Pour sauce over the lamb and garnish with chopped herbs. Serve immediately.

BRAISED LAMB SHANKS WITH TOMATOES AND ROSEMARY

Steps:

• Pat the lamb shanks dry, season them with salt and pepper, and in a large heavy kettle brown them, 3 at a time, in the oil over moderately high heat, transferring them as they are browned to a roasting pan just large enough to hold them in one layer. To the kettle add the onion, cook it over moderate heat, stirring, until it is softened, and stir in the garlic. Cook the mixture for 3 minutes, stir in the tomatoes, the wine, the broth, the dried rosemary, the allspice, and salt and pepper to taste, and bring the sauce to a boil. Ladle the sauce over the lamb shanks. Braise the shanks, covered tightly with foil, in the middle of a preheated 350°F. oven for 1 1/2 hours, or until they are tender, transfer them to a heatproof platter, and keep them warm, covered. Pour the sauce into the kettle, cleaned, and boil it for 10 minutes, or until it is reduced to about 4 cups. The lamb shanks and the sauce may be made 2 days in advance, cooled to room temperature, and both kept in the roasting pan, covered and chilled. Heat the lamb shanks in the sauce in a preheated 350°F. oven until they are hot and transfer the shanks to the heatproof platter. Into the sauce stir 2 teaspoons of the parsley and 2 teaspoons of the fresh rosemary. Divide the shanks among 6 heated plates, spoon the sauce over them, and sprinkle it with the remaining parsley and fresh rosemary.