Braised Lamb Shanks with Rosemary and Red Wine
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 3 hours | Servings: 4-6
Here’s an incredibly tasty recipe with minimal effort. We’ll be using PairME’s red wine (“The Wine for Steak”) which is just perfect to pair with this dish, or any steak dish, get it here.
Ingredients
4-6 lamb shanks
1¾ cups of PairME’s “The Wine for Steak”, get it here
¼ cup grape juice
4 sprigs rosemary
1 head of garlic, cut in half width-ways
6-8 shallots, cut in half lengthways
3 Tbsp tomato paste
¼ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp chili flakes
1½ cups vegetable, chicken, or beef stock
2 bay leaves
sea salt
ground black pepper
olive oil
Directions
Preheat oven to 330 degrees F (165 degrees C). If your lamb shanks have been frozen and thawed, rinse them under cold water to avoid the “lamb-y” smell that’s often associated with cooking lamb.
Pat the lamb shanks dry with a paper towel and season them with ground black pepper. Place a large ovenproof casserole pot on medium-high heat and heat a Tbsp olive oil. Sear the lamb shanks until lightly browned on all sides, remove the pot from the heat, and transfer the lamb shanks to a plate. You may need to do this in batches.
Once the pot has cooled slightly, add the shallots and bay leaves and allow the shallots to caramelize slightly for about 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste and mix. Add the PairME’s “The Wine for Steak” and deglaze the pot by scraping any of the caramelization from the bottom. Then add the grape juice, cinnamon, chilli, and 2 sprigs of rosemary. Season with salt and pepper.
Add the stock, mix well, then place the lamb shanks back in the pot, along with the garlic halves. If you don’t have a big enough pot, you can sear the lamb shanks and then transfer them to a baking dish and cover them with the liquid.
Cover with foil or a tight-fitting lid and place in the preheated oven for 2.5-3 hours or until the meat is tender and falling off the bone and the sauce has thickened. If the sauce has not thickened as much as you’d like it to, remove the shanks from the pot and place the pot back onto the stove, then simmer for 5-10 minutes until the sauce has reduced to your preference.
Season once more to taste with salt and pepper (and more chilli flakes if desired) and lightly toss 2 more sprigs of rosemary through the sauce before serving.