GLUTEN-FREE SLOW ROASTED LAMB SHANKS
According to the old proverb: ‘the nearer the bone, the sweeter the meat.’
Leaving metaphorical meanings aside, when we’re talking about the long, slow cooking of meat on the bone, the culinary experts couldn’t agree with the ancients more.
There’s not only the buttery bone marrow, they say, but the collagen in the bones themselves that melts to create gelatin. Both end up adding texture and body to carry and enrich the more complex meaty flavours.
We’ll hold up this recipe for Slow Roasted Lamb Shanks as deliciously full-flavoured evidence.
It’s quickly become a favourite in our house, mainly because it’s so easy and the juices it cooks in turn into a beautiful sauce. Best of all, it has never failed to please.
Jan
SLOW ROASTED LAMB SHANKS
Serves 6
6 large lamb shanks, fat trimmed
Sea salt flakes
Freshly ground black pepper
80 ml extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, sliced
3 sprigs of rosemary, some leaves stripped and chopped
4 garlic cloves, sliced
½ teaspoon chilli flakes
500 ml apple juice
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon or a cinnamon quill
Preheat the oven to 150°C fan-forced (170°C conventional).
Season the lamb generously with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a deep, frying pan over medium–high heat and sear the shanks well, turning regularly to brown all over. You may need to do this in batches.
Remove from the pan and place in a baking dish large enough to hold the shanks snugly.
Reduce the heat in the frying pan. Add the remaining olive oil, and fry the onion and rosemary for a few minutes until softened. Add the chilli flakes and garlic and stir to combine.
Pour in the apple juice and balsamic vinegar and mix well. Then add the allspice, cinnamon and a little more salt and pepper.
Bring to a simmer. Pour the contents of the pan over and around the lamb shanks.
Cover with a lid or foil and braise in the oven for 3 – 3.5 hours, turning the shanks over after a couple of hours. Cook until the meat is falling off the bone.
Remove shanks from the oven and keep warm. Add juices to a wide saucepan and remove what oil you can from the surface. Reduce, uncovered, on the stovetop for 10 minutes, until the onions have melted and the sauce thickened.
Place the lamb shanks on hot plates, pouring the sauce over and around them. Serve, as we have here, with creamed potatoes and caponata, or with other vegetables of your choice.
TIP:
If you can find pomegranates or pomegranate juice substitute it for half of the apple juice. The sauce turns dark and fruity. Sprinkle the arils around the dish to serve, like jewels to finish.