[RADIO] Easy braised lamb shank recipe

You can hopefully forgive the fact that I haven’t done a new video for a few weeks. Baby Matilda is keeping us very busy (and sleep-deprived!) and, as always with a newborn, things are very chaotic around here. But my weekly Saturday BBC radio show carries on and I made these wonderfully easy and delicious lamb shanks this week.

Listen to a full audio recording of me making this recipe here:

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Lamb shanks are such an under-rated cut of lamb. My butcher does them for under £3 each and a couple of them serve the three of us with some left over for sandwiches. It’s a hearty, homely cut which benefits from slow cooking, giving you meltingly tender meat. It is also nigh-on impossible to over-cook a lamb shank, perfect for sleep-deprived brains which cannot think straight!

One of the earliest recipes we made on this blog was a slow cooked lamb shank dish which proved incredibly popular. This one is different because the lamb is braised in red wine. Obviously all the alcohol burns off so it is more than suitable for the whole family.

Simple, comforting and effortless, this braised lamb shank recipe is hugely popular in our house. A perfect midweek meal for tired heads and bruised souls!

Serves 4

Preparation time 10 mins
Total cooking time 3 hours

3 lamb shanks
1 onion, chopped
2 sticks celery, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1 clove garlic
A good sprinkling of chopped rosemary
1 tbsp plain flour
Approximately 500ml full-bodied red wine
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Olive oil
Knob of butter

**NOTE** You can easily get away without browning the lamb shanks. To make things even quicker, just quickly fry the vegetables for a couple of minutes to start softening them**

1. Heat an oven-proof casserole dish on a high heat on the hob, drizzle in a good glug of olive oil and throw in the butter. When it is bubbling, put the lamb shanks in. You want to brown the outsides of the shanks. Keep turning them until they are nice and golden, then set aside.
2. Using the same pan, fry the onions, carrot, celery and garlic for 4-5 minutes until softened and a little golden.
3. Stir in the flour, the rosemary, the salt and pepper, then lay the lamb shanks on top.
4. Pour in the red wine, give the dish a good stir then cover it with a lid and put it in an oven at about 170C/350F.
5. Leave the dish in the oven for a little under 3 hours. You may want to turn the lamb shanks over half way through but this is not essential.
6. After 3 hours, the lamb with be meltingly soft and the wine and vegetables will have thickened into a beautiful sauce.
7. Serve on freshly cooked mashed potatoes.