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Ingredients

6          (about 12 oz or 340 g each) lamb shanks

½         cup (125 mL) vegetable oil

2          onions, coarsely chopped

2          stalks celery, coarsely chopped

2          medium-sized carrots, coarsely chopped

¼          cup (60 mL) flour

2          tbsp (30 mL) tomato paste

2          cups (500 mL) red wine or sherry

4          cups (1 L) lamb or beef broth

6          sprigs, fresh thyme

4          sprigs, fresh mint

4          bay leaves

Directions

It is ideal to make this in one oven-safe pot, preferably with a tight-fitting lid. Pan-roast lamb shanks in oil until golden brown on all sides. Remove from pan and rest on a plate for a few minutes. Sauté onions, celery, and carrots for 10 minutes until slightly caramelized. Add flour and stir to form a roux, cooking the flour out for a minute or two. Add tomato paste and cook for another 2 minutes, stirring often. Deglaze pan with sherry or red wine and bring to a boil. Add all remaining ingredients, including shanks, back into the pot. There should be enough liquid to cover the shanks completely.

Bring to boil and transfer to a 300F/150C oven and braise, covered, for 2 ½ to 3 hours. Remove from oven and let shanks set in the braising liquid for at least 2 hours. Remove shanks using a slotted spoon and transfer them to another tray.

Strain braising liquor into a saucepan and reduce over medium-high heat until sauce coats the back of a wooden spoon. The sauce should have a rich, beef gravy-like appearance. After the reduction, season sauce carefully with salt and pepper to ensure it is not too salty.

Pick all meat off the shanks and discard bones. Fill bottom of a large casserole dish with the picked lamb meat, then cover with enough sauce to moisten the meat, but reserve a little for serving later (it should take about two cups of sauce).

For the potatoes
2.2       lbs (1 kg) Yukon gold potatoes

½         cup (125 mL) butter

¼         cup (62 mL) milk

1          tsp (5 mL) salt

1          tsp (5 mL) black pepper

2          cups (500 mL) grated smoked gouda cheese

Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to boil. Cut potatoes in half, cook them thoroughly, and then strain. Place them back into pot and add butter, milk, salt, and pepper. Mash with a potato masher until smooth, then fold in grated cheese. Spoon this over lamb meat in the casserole dish and spread it as evenly as possible. Add several knobs of butter to the top of the dish just before it goes into the oven. Bake for 45 minutes at 350F/177C until potatoes are browned and crispy on top.

Makes a deep-dish pie large enough to serve eight people.

For the minted peas
1          cup (250 mL) freshly shucked peas

2          tbsp (30 mL) butter

1          tsp (5 mL) fresh mint, chopped

            salt and pepper

Bring a small pot of salted water to a boil and cook peas for 3 minutes until tender but firm. Strain and add them to a sauté pan with butter, fresh mint, and a tablespoon of water. Cook them over high heat until water evaporates, and butter glazes the peas. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

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