Braised Lamb Shanks
From mystic_river1 14 years ago
- 180 minutes to make
- Serves 4
From T. Susan Chang for NPR as posted in The Feast Newsletter. This is a very basic formula for braising lamb shanks, adapted from The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters (Potter 2007). Like many Alice Waters recipes, it's simple but perfect. Read more Using nothing but the same aromatics you usually have around the house (onions, carrots, bay leaves and so forth) and some minimal prep time, you can get this braise started, have an excellent nap and wake up to a nearly ready dinner. It takes two minutes to make the gremolata, so don't skip it. It's aggressive and herbal and pungent — the perfect foil for every soft and mellow bite of lamb shank. See less
Ingredients
- 4 meaty lamb shanks, about 1 pound each shopping list
- salt shopping list
- Fresh-ground black pepper shopping list
- olive oil shopping list
- 2 onions, peeled and cut into large pieces shopping list
- 2 carrots, peeled and cut into large pieces shopping list
- 1 head of garlic, cut in half shopping list
- 1 small dried chili pepper shopping list
- 4 black peppercorns shopping list
- 1 rosemary sprig shopping list
- 1 bay leaf shopping list
- 3/4 cup white wine shopping list
- 2 medium tomatoes or half of a 14.5-ounce can organic whole tomatoes, cored and chopped shopping list
- 2 cups chicken broth shopping list
- ---------------------------- shopping list
- For The Gremolata shopping list
- 3 tablespoons chopped parsley shopping list
- 1 teaspoon grated or finely chopped lemon zest shopping list
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped shopping list
How to make it
- Trim any excess fat from the shanks. Season liberally with salt and pepper, the day before if possible.
- Into a heavy-bottomed pan over medium-high heat, pour enough olive oil to generously cover the bottom of the pan. Add the shanks and brown them well on all sides. This will take 12 minutes or so. When the shanks are brown, remove them from the pan, pour out most of the fat, and add the onions, carrots, garlic, chili pepper, peppercorns, rosemary and bay leaf. Cook for a few minutes, stirring now and then, until the vegetables soften.
- Add the wine and tomatoes. Turn up the heat to reduce the wine and scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. When the wine has reduced by half, put the shanks back in the pan and pour in the chicken broth. The liquid should come about halfway up the sides of the shanks. Bring to a boil and immediately turn down the heat, cover and cook for 2.5 to 3 hours at a bare simmer, on the stovetop or in a 325-degree oven. When braising in the oven, remove the cover for the last 20 minutes of cooking to brown the meat a little. The lamb should be meltingly tender and falling off the bones. Take out the lamb shanks.
- Skim off all the fat. Pass the sauce through a food mill or puree it briefly with a stick blender, regular blender or food processor. If it is very thick, thin it with a little chicken broth. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed. Return the shanks to the sauce
- To make gremolata, simply mix together the parsley, lemon zest and garlic.
- Warm the sauce and shanks and serve sprinkled with gremolata.
The Rating
Reviewed by 8 people-
This is great and delicious.
Hi 5.
ED
spinach1948
in Dorchester-Boston loved it
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wnderful recipe luv th veggies too thanks high5
momo_55grandma
in Mountianview loved it
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I love lamb and this 5 fork recipe looks like it's going to be lovingly prepared for Wednesday's dinner. Thank you so much for sharing.
chacha
in New York loved it
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