Lamb Shanks

5-hour slow-cooked lamb shanks

I've been beside myself with excitement to use a new cast-iron pan my Auntie gave me as an (extremely!) early Christmas present - something I've wanted for ages but have never quite justified.

Lamb Shanks are not a staple weeknight meal for us - more a special treat and definitely one of my all-time favourite meals!  So it was the perfect dish to make to christen my new pan - and it didn't let me down!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 lamb shanks

1 brown onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 carrots, roughly chopped

1 stalk of celery, roughly chopped

1 cup red wine

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 tin tomatoes

1 cup beef stock

2 dried bay leaves

Method:

Preheat oven to 150 degrees/130 fan-forced.

Heat oil in pan over medium heat, then add lamb shanks and brown lightly, turning to brown each side.

Add onion and garlic and cook until softened slightly.  Add carrots, celery, wine, tomato paste, tomato, stock and bay leaves and stir to combine.

Cover and transfer to the oven.  Bake for at least 2 hours - or as long as possible (I did about 5 hours on this batch).  Serve with mashed potato and steamed green beans.

Lamb Shanks after about 2 hours