Braised Lamb Shanks

Total Time: 3 hrs 20 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 3 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 2 tablespoons cumin seeds
• 3 tablespoons coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 lamb shanks (about 250g each)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 carrot, finely chopped
• 2 stalks celery, trimmed and finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
• 400 g tomatoes, drained and roughly chopped
• 200 ml dry red wine
• 200 ml port wine
• 1 liter beef stock

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 160°c.
• 2 using a morter and pestle, roughly crush the cumin and coriander seeds until fragrant. add salt and mix well.
• 3 sprinkle over the lamb shanks and press on to coat.
• 4 in a large deep heavy based, oven proof dish, heat the oil over medium heat and brown the shanks well. remove and set aside.
• 5 place the onion, carrot and celery in the same dish and saute over medium heat until soft. add the garlic, tomatoes and stir.
• 6 pour in the wine and port, stir then add the beef stock. bring to the boil then turn off the heat.
• 7 return the lamb to the pan, cover with aluminium foil and place in the oven for 3 hours or until the meat almost falls off the bone.
• 8 remove from the oven and lift out the shanks. set aside and keep warm.
• 9 skim as much fat as you can off the surface of the cooking liquid and return to the stove top over medium heat to simmer and reduce to a slightly syrupy consistency.
• 10 serve with mashed potatoes or polenta.