Lamb Shanks in Red Wine Sauce
Total Time
3 hours and 50 minutes
Prep Time
20 minutes
Cook Time
3 hours and 30 minutes
Rating
4.95 out of 5 stars
(319)
Ingredients
4 servings
- 4 lamb shanks (, around 13 oz / 400g each (Note 1)
- 1 tsp EACH cooking/kosher salt and pepper
- 2 - 3 tbsp olive oil (, separated)
- 1 onion (, finely diced (brown, yellow or white)
- 3 garlic cloves (, minced)
- 1 cup carrot (, peeled, finely diced (Note 2)
- 1 cup celery (, finely diced (Note 2)
- 2 1/2 cups red wine (full bodied (good value wine, not expensive! Note 3)
- 800 g / 28oz can crushed tomatoes
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 cups chicken stock (, low sodium (or water)
- 5 sprigs of thyme (preferably tied together), or 2 tsp dried thyme)
- 2 dried bay leaves (or 4 fresh)
- Mashed potato (, polenta or pureed cauliflower)
- Fresh thyme leaves (, optional garnish)
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Preparation
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F (all oven types - fan and standard).
Step 2
Season shanks - Pat the lamb shanks dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Step 3
Brown - Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large heavy based pot over high heat. Sear the lamb shanks in 2 batches until brown all over, about 5 minutes. Remove lamb onto a plate and drain excess fat (if any) from the pot.
Step 4
Sauté aromatics - Turn the heat down to medium low. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the same pot. Add the onion and garlic, cook for 2 minutes. Add carrot and celery. Cook for 5 minutes until onion is translucent and sweet.
Step 5
Braising liquid - Add the red wine, chicken stock, crushed tomato, tomato paste, thyme and bay leaves. Stir to combine.
Step 6
Add shanks - Place the lamb shanks into the pot, squeezing them in to fit so they are mostly submerged. (Note 1)
Step 7
Oven 2 hours covered - Turn stove up, bring liquid to a simmer. Cover, then transfer to the oven for 2 hours (see notes for other cook methods).
Step 8
Uncovered 30 minutes - Remove lid, then return to the oven for another 30 minutes (so 2 1/2 hours in total). Check to ensure lamb meat is ultra tender - if not, cover and keep cooking. Ideal is tender meat but still just holding onto bone.
Step 9
Remove lamb onto plate and keep warm. Pick out and discard bay leaves and thyme.
Step 10
Sauce - Strain the sauce into a bowl, pressing to extract all sauce out of the veggies (Note 5 for repurposing the veggies). Pour strained sauce back into pot. If needed, bring to a simmer over medium heat and reduce slightly to a syrupy consistency (see video) - I rarely need to. Taste then add salt and pepper to taste (Note 5 on sauce taste).
Step 11
Serve the lamb shanks on mashed potato or cauliflower puree with plenty of sauce! Garnish with thyme leaves if desired.
Step 12
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