Baked Lamb Shanks with Mashed Potatoes

It’s quite cold these few days in Brisbane. The weather reminds me of my favourite dish, the baked lamb shanks. The meat is really tender, coating with rich sauce, that would literally fall off the bone and melt in my mouth. We like to serve the lamb shanks with an Italian seasoning, gremolata that adds extra flavours to the meat. What a comfort food in chilling days!

Ingredients:

• 2 lamb shanks, about 900g
• salt, to taste
• pepper, to taste

• 3 stalks rosemary
• 4 stalks celery, roughly chopped
• 1 carrot, roughly chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 cups (500ml) dry red wine
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 1 strip orange zest, 1x3 inch
• a dash of olive oil (or cooking oil)

Ingredients of mashed potatoes:

• 2 potatoes
• butter, to taste
• pepper, to taste
• hot milk, to taste

Ingredients of Gremolata:

• 2 tbsp freshly chopped parsley
• 2 tsp lemon zest
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180C (356F). Place rack in the middle.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil over medium heat on a frying pan. Season the lamb shanks with salt and pepper. Add them to the pan and cook until all sides are lightly golden, about 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer lamb shanks to a large casserole, covered.
3. Heat some oil in the same frying pan to sauté onion, celery, carrot and rosemary over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until all ingredients soften and lightly brown. Add tomato paste and combine well. Cook for another 2 minutes. Increase heat to high. Add red wine and boil over high heat about 10 to 15 minutes. Cook until liquid thickens.
4. Return lamb shanks to pan. Add orange zest and chicken stock. Bring to boil, then transfer into the casserole. The lamb should be covered by sauce. Cover and bake for at least 2 hours, until lamb softens, turning lamb after 1 hour if necessary.
5. While baking lamb, peel potatoes and roughly chop into chunks. Cook in boiling water for 20 minutes, or until softened. Drain well. Place in a large bowl and let rest for a while. Mash potatoes and season with salt, butter, pepper and milk to taste.
   
   
   
   
6. In another small bowl, combine crushed garlic, parsley and lemon zest. That’s unique “gremolata”, really yummy to go with hot lamb shanks.
   
   
   
   
7. When the lamb shanks are ready, discard rosemary. Serve with mash and gremolata.