Slow-cooked Italian Lamb Shanks

Italian lamb shanks are one of my favourite meals, and is often what I order when we are dining out. This recipe had a lot to live up to, however it is as delicious, even more so,  than any Italian Lamb Shank meal I have ever eaten. It's made from scratch, without the use of any packets of supermarket branded products, such as a packet of red wine jus. There's just no need.

This is a hearty and nutritious plate of food, suitable for the whole family or for serving to guests. Sarah Pound in her introduction to her recipe commented that her friend said it feels "like a warm hug". I think she is right. This recipe is adapted from Sarah Pound's new recipe book called Wholesome, published by Plum/Pan Macmillan. I found it in the May 2024 issue of the Australian Women's Weekly where they were featuring some of Sarah's recipes from her book. I'm so pleased I tried it. I was quite happy to have it cooking in the oven for 3 hours, filling the house with tantalising aromas. 

We are staying with our daughter, in between Pickleball tournaments, and she asked me if this recipe could be cooked in the slow cooker. She loved coming home to this meal after a long day at work. I think it would cook perfectly in the slow cooker. I remember when I was working, I would sometimes have ingredients prepared the night before, and would just add everything to the slow cooker pot the following morning and turn it on before leaving for work. It's so lovely to come home to a ready cooked delicious meal. For my readers that are working away from home, I have also given some tips on cooking this recipe in your slow cooker. It is very versatile.

 Ingredients:

4 lamb shanks (approximately 1 kg in total)

2 tablespoons plain flour

3 tablespoons extra olive oil

1 leek, white part only, finely diced

4 celery stalks, finely diced

2 carrots, finely diced

1 large zucchini, sliced into thick half moons

3 tablespoons tomato paste

1 tablespoon dried Italian herbs

400g can chopped tomatoes

500ml (2 cups) chicken stock

250ml (1 cup) dry white wine

2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves

mashed potatoes or creamy polenta, to serve

Method:

Preheat your oven first up to 180 deg. C (fan-forced)

Preparation:

Chop all of the vegetables first as indicated in the ingredients list, and place in separate little piles on your cutting board.

Select a couple of sheets of paper towel,  and pat dry the lamb shanks. Place them on a large plate, and  sprinkle with one teaspoon of salt and 1-2 teaspoons of pepper. 

The shanks now need to be rolled in the flour. Dust the flour over them first, and then roll them in the remaining flour. 

Let's cook:

There are two options for cooking the shanks.  Use either a large, stovetop casserole dish that can be transferred straight into the oven, or use a large frypan to brown off the lamb shanks and cook the vegetables and then transfer the lamb and vegetables into an ovenproof casserole dish. I used the 2nd method, as I wasn't cooking these in my own kitchen and didn't have a large stovetop and ovenproof casserole dish on hand. It worked perfectly.

As I think most of my readers will own a large stovetop and ovenproof casserole dish, I'll describe that method of cooking. The method can easily be adapted to using a frying pan and then a casserole dish.

Pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a large, flameproof or oven proof casserole dish and place over a high heat on the stove for 2 minutes. In two separate batches, add the lamb shanks, and fry on each side for 3 minutes, until they are nicely browned. Remove them from the dish onto a plate until the vegetables are cooked.

Turn the heat of the casserole dish down to medium. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil for 1 minute. Add the garlic and the leek to cook, being careful not to burn them, and stir for 2 minutes. Stir in the celery, carrot and zucchini and cook for 4-5 minutes, just until they are slightly softened.

If it suits you and to save time, while the vegetables are cooking, you can pour the chicken stock into a jug or small saucepan, and add the tomato paste, dried herbs, tomatoes, chicken stock and white wine. 

When the vegetables are cooked, add the contents of the jug, and bring the mixture to the boil. (Otherwise add all of the ingredients separately to the casserole dish, and bring it to the boil.)

Return  the lamb shanks to the dish, making sure they are fully submerged in the liquid. Cover the pot with the lid, and cook in the oven for 3 hours.

The lamb shanks are ready when the succulent lamb meat is falling away from the bone. Remove the casserole dish from the oven and check that the lamb is cooked. If there is still too much liquid, place the pot back in the oven without the lid, and continue cooking for 30 minutes. ensure though that the lamb shanks are fully submerged in liquid.

When the lamb shanks are ready to serve, scatter on the finely chopped parsley and serve with creamy mashed potatoes or polenta. I love to add some cooked peas as well for extra colour and fibre.

Cooking polenta, using 1 cup of polenta

Even though I served these lamb shanks with potato this time, they are also delicious with polenta.

Ingredients:

1 cup of polenta

1/3 cup (25g) finely grated parmesan cheese

50 g butter, chopped

Method:

Bring 4 cups of water to a simmer, which is about 1 litre. Gradually add 1 cup of polenta in a steady flow to the water, whisking constantly as you pour. Cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon,  for a couple of minutes, until it starts to thicken. Stir in 25 g of parmesan cheese, and 50 g chopped butter. Delicious and healthy.

Cook's Notes:

• I thought the oven temperature might be too high for 3 hours of oven cooking, but at the end of the time the lamb shanks were cooked perfectly
• I think that this dish could also be cooked in a slow cooker, not that I've tried it. I would prepare the lamb and the vegetables as described in the recipe, and place them all in the slow cooker. Cook on high for 3 1/2 hours or on low for 8 hours or following the instructions of your appliance manufacturer.
• If choosing to cook this dish in the slow cooker, the main thing to consider would be the size of the lamb shanks. The butcher should be able to provide you with smaller lamb shanks that would fit in your slow cooker pot.

We ate this dish for dinner and it was rich, comforting, and delicious. The four lamb shanks I bought were large ones, and there was enough food for three of us for dinner, and for two large frozen meals as well. There was a lot of meat on the shanks. However, if I was cooking this dish for a dinner party for 4 people, I would buy smaller shanks from a good butcher so that my guests didn't feel overwhelmed by the size of their meal, particularly if I was serving a starter and a dessert. 

Happy Mother's Day tomorrow to all the wonderful mothers reading my post. I hope you have a very special day with loved ones.

Warm wishes

Pauline