Best Slow Roasted Lamb Shanks Recipes

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.

SLOW-BRAISED LAMB SHANKS WITH GUAJILLO-PINEAPPLE SAUCE, ROASTED VEGETABLES, AND COCONUT TAMALES

Steps:

• Make guajillo-pineapple sauce
• Wipe guajillo chiles clean with a damp cloth, then slice off stem ends and remove seeds. Preheat large skillet over medium heat, then toast chiles, turning frequently, until fragrant and beginning to darken, about 30 seconds. Transfer to bowl, cover with cold water, and soak 20 minutes.
• While guajillos are soaking, toast chiles de arbol in same skillet over medium heat until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Transfer to plate and cool.
• Drain guajillos and combine in blender with chiles de arbol, pineapple, garlic, cumin, cloves, canela, orange juice, and 1 cup water. Blend until very smooth.
• Heat olive oil in medium saucepan over medium heat and fry sauce, stirring occasionally with wooden spoon, 30 minutes. Mix in vinegar and sugar; season with salt. Strain sauce through fine sieve, discarding solids. Cool completely. (Sauce can be made ahead and stored, covered, in refrigerator. Before using, taste and add salt if needed.)
• Prepare lamb
• Combine orange zest and canela in medium bowl. Rinse lamb shanks and pat dry. Sprinkle liberally with salt, then with orange-canela mixture. Set aside to rest for 15 minutes.
• Arrange steamer rack in very large stockpot and add water to just below bottom of rack. Cover and bring water to boil.
• Place 1 parchment sheet on work surface and place 1 pineapple slice in center. Put 1 lamb shank, bone pointing upward, on top of pineapple, and spoon a thick coating of guajillo-pineapple sauce over meat. Draw up sides of parchment and tie tightly around bone with kitchen twine. Assemble 5 more pouches in same manner and place in steamer. Steam until meat is very tender and falling off the bone, about 2 1/2 hours.
• To serve, place each pouch on a plate, untie, and discard twine. Spoon some roasted vegetables onto parchment next to meat, and place 2 coconut tamales alongside.

SLOW ROASTED HERB AND GARLIC LAMB SHANKS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 170C (150C fan forced).
• Arrange rosemary across base of a large roasting pan and sprinkle with half the oregano, turn and sprinkle with remaining oregano.
• Arrange shanks in a single layer, in pan and add garlic and season with salt and pepper.
• Pour white wine (or sherry) and stock into pan and cover pan with foil and bake for 1 hour and then remove from oven and turn shanks and re-cover and bake for 1 hour 20 minutes or until tender.
• Remove shanks from pan and skim fat from pan juices and serve pan juices drizzled over the shanks.