Ymir Baked Lamb Shanks
main course | serves 4
Many people have a real affection for lamb shanks, they pack all the flavour lamb lovers have come to expect but are a decidedly less expensive cut of meat than the rack or a boneless leg. Using simple root veggies and a flavoured butter, then squeezing tinfoil around each shank, the most is made of the flavour of the meat without having to cover it in spices. This particular recipe appeals to me as it’s simple and takes less time than a slow cooker style recipe. I”d like to say this idea was all mine, but I did get a little help from my good friend Jamie Oliver with this one!
These shanks are served in their buttery juices and go well with a creamy mashed potato and steamed green. For a special treat, serve with sweet potato.
You will need:
• 6 sprigs of fresh rosemary
• 2/3c cold butter
• 15 fresh sage leaves
• 2 sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves picked
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 lamb shanks, crown or French-trimmed
• 6 cloves of garlic, unpeeled
• 2 large carrots, peeled and finely sliced
• 1 onion, peeled and finely sliced
• 1 leek, halved and finely sliced
olive oil
• white wine
Preheat your oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4. Pick the leaves off 2 sprigs of rosemary, whir them with the butter, most of the sage and the thyme, in a food processor or using a hand-held blender. Using a small knife, take the lamb shanks and cut between the meat and the bone from the base of the shank upwards. Create a hole big enough to put your finger in, making a pocket. Divide the flavoured butter between the shanks, pushing it into the pockets. This will give a wonderful flavour to the heart of the shanks.
Tear off four arm-length pieces of tinfoil and fold each in half. Divide the garlic and veg between them, making a pile in the middle of each square. Rub the lamb shanks with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, then put one on top of each pile of veg and a sprig of rosemary and a few sage leaves on top of that. Carefully pull up the sides of the foil around the shank and pour a swig of wine into each. Gather the foil around the bone, pinching it together tightly. Place the foil parcels on a baking tray with the bones facing up. Put in the preheated oven for 2½ hours or until the meat is as tender as can be. Serve the parcels in the middle of the table so that your guests can open them up themselves.
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