Slow Roasted Lamb Shanks With Braised Lentils Recipes

SLOW-COOKED LAMB SHANKS WITH LENTIL RAGOUT

Steps:

• Preheat oven to moderately slow (160c).
• Toss lamb shanks in seasoned flour, heat oil in a large saucepan and brown shanks in batches for 4-5 minutes or until browned all over. Transfer to a plate.
• Saute onion, carrot, celery and chili in same pan for 4-5 minutes until onion is tender. Stir through lentils, tomatoes water, wine and vinegar and bring to the boil.
• Place the lamb and sauce mixture into a large oven proof casserole dish; bake covered, stirring a couple of times for 1 1/2 hours.
• Uncover and cook a further hour or until meat is almost falling off the bone.
• Stir parsley through and serve over mashed potatoes with green vegetables if desired.

OVEN ROASTED LAMB SHANKS WITH ROASTED TOMATOES AND TOASTED ORZO

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Heat oil in a medium Dutch oven over high heat until smoking. Season the shanks on both sides with salt and pepper and sear until golden brown on both sides. Remove shanks to a plate. Add the celery, carrots, and onions and cook until caramelized. Add the Port and red wine and reduce by half. Add the chicken stock, the pulp from the roasted garlic, and return the shanks; bring to a boil on the stove, and then cover and bake in the oven for 2 hours or until tender. Remove shanks, strain sauce into a medium saucepan, and reserve 1 cup of the braising liquid for cooking the orzo. Cook the sauce over high heat until liquid is reduced by half. Serve shanks with sauce, orzo, and tomatoes.
• Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Place garlic heads in a small roasting dish and drizzle with olive oil. Roast for about 1 1/2 hours or until soft. Let cool before squeezing the pulp out.
• Bring 8 cups of water (or a combination of chicken stock and water) to a boil. Heat a medium nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Add 1/2 of the orzo and toast until golden brown. In a medium saucepan, heat the butter and oil over medium heat, then add the onion and cook until soft. Add the toasted orzo and the remaining orzo and saute for 1 minute to coat the pasta with the onion mixture. Add hot water to the orzo as if you were making risotto, a little at a time, until the pasta is al dente. Finish with the cold butter and 1 cup of the braising liquid. Stir in parsley and season with salt and pepper, to taste.
• Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. In a small baking dish, toss the tomatoes in olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 4 hours. Alternatively, use re-hydrated sun-dried tomatoes instead.

SLOW ROASTED LAMB SHANKS WITH BRAISED LENTILS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 500°F. Spread onions, celery, and carrots over bottom of large roasting pan. Rub thyme and mint over lamb shanks; sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Place lamb shanks atop vegetables. Drizzle 3 tablespoons oil over. Roast uncovered 30 minutes. Pour 1 cup chicken stock over lamb and vegetables in pan. Reduce oven temperature to 425°F. Continue to roast uncovered until lamb is very tender and almost falls off bones, adding 1 cup stock to pan every 30 minutes and turning and basting lamb occasionally, about 3 hours longer. Using tongs, transfer lamb shanks to bowl; cover to keep warm.
• Transfer vegetables and pan juices to large saucepan; skim fat from surface. Add remaining 1 cup stock, wine, juniper berries if desired, and bay leaf to saucepan. Simmer 10 minutes to blend flavors. Strain, pressing on solids to extract as much vegetable pulp and liquid as possible. Return strained liquid to same saucepan; bring to boil. Mix flour and butter to blend in small bowl. Add to saucepan; whisk until sauce thickens slightly and is reduced to 2 cups, about 2 minutes. Season sauce with salt and pepper.
• Spoon Braised Lentils onto 4 plates. Drizzle remaining 2 tablespoons oil over lentils. Top each serving with 1 lamb shank. Spoon sauce over lamb.
• Available in the spice section of most supermarkets.

SLOW ROASTED LAMB SHANKS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 475 degrees.
• Rub the shanks with salt and pepper, then place them meaty-side up in a roasting pan.
• Roast for 25 minutes, or until nicely browned.
• Remove from oven.
• Reduce oven temperature to 250 degrees.
• Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat.
• Add the vegetables and garlic and saute, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes, or until the vegetables soften, then caramelize.
• Stir in the thyme, rosemary, fennel and coriander seeds, the peppercorns, bay leaf and parsley.
• Increase the heat to high, add the wine and deglaze the pan, scraping up all the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
• Boil until the liquid has reduced by one third.
• Pour over the lamb, spreading the vegetables over, but not completely covering, the shanks.
• Add enough of the water, chicken broth or lamb stock to almost cover the meat.
• Cover the pan with aluminum foil and roast for 7 hours, basting with the pan juices every hour or so, and adding liquid as needed.
• Remove the foil during the last 30 minutes of cooking.
• At this point, the lamb should be fork-tender and falling off the bone.
• Remove the shanks from the pan and let cool to room temperature.
• Strain the braising liquid, pushing on the vegetables to get all of their goodness and skim off the fat. Best to refrigerate overnight and skim off the solidified fat.
• When ready to serve, slowly reheat the shanks in the braising liquid.
• To serve, roast your favorite root vegetables and spoon onto serving plates, center a lamb shank on each plate and spoon a little of the braising liquid over the top.
• Garnish with parsley, if desired.

BRAISED LAMB SHANKS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Place the onions in a layer in the bottom of a Dutch oven or medium roasting pan with a lid. Arrange the lamb shanks on top of the onions. Pour the wine, balsamic vinegar and olive oil over the lamb. Place a clove of pressed garlic next to each shank, and a quarter of a lemon on each side. Pour the tomatoes over everything, then season with salt, pepper and basil.
• Cover and place in the preheated oven. Cook for 3 hours. Use juices from the pan to make a nice flavorful gravy.