The shank is the bottom part of the leg, just below the knee. I love cooking this part of the lamb as 1 shank is a good, generous portion for one person, so it’s easy to make for one or more. The beans and the pearl barley suck up all of the flavors from the lamb!
Ingredients
- 2 lamb shanks, approx 400g each
- 1 onion, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, sliced
- 1 carrot, diced
- 1 celery stick, diced
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 400g tin of borlotti beans
- 100g Pearl barley
- 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
- 125 glass of red wine
- 1 tsp sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 150 C.
- In a frying pan, brown and seal the lamb for 5 mins, season and add to your baking dish.
- Soften the onion and garlic with some olive oil in the same pan you browned the lamb in, then after 5 mins add the carrot and celery. After another 5 mins, turn the heat up and add the red wine and sugar, allow to reduce down for a few mins then turn the heat back to low and add the bay leaf, thyme, and tomatoes, stir and simmer for 5 mins.
- Then add the tomatoes to the lamb, along with the barley and the beans and their liquid, stir well and roast for 3-3.5 hrs, until the lamb is falling off the bone.
- Halfway through a cooking check to see how it’s doing, if it looks a little dry, add a dash of water. Turn the lamb over, stir the beans and drizzle with olive oil. If it looks a little dry, add a dash of water.
- To serve, drizzle with some good olive oil, a sprinkling of fresh herbs and some spring greens on the side.
The flavors were spot on and it was so easy to make.