Heavenly lamb shank casserole

Dinner time doesn’t get much better than this amazing lamb shank casserole. The ingredients are classic and the flavour is out-of-this-world delicious. You’ll be hard-pressed find something else this delicious for dinner that’s packed with a great balance of meat and vegetables. Once everything’s in the dish, leave to bubble away in the oven for a couple of hours so the flavours develop and the meat becomes lovely and tender. Serve with a few slices of crusty bread or mashed potatoes and dig in. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 4-6 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 lamb shanks, trimmed
• 5 tablespoons flour
• 1 leek, halved and cut into 1cm pieces
• 2 stalks celery, roughly chopped
• 2 carrots, roughly chopped
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 12 garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
• 1 sprig of thyme
• 1 sprig of rosemary
• 350ml red wine
• 600ml chicken stock
• Sea salt

Method

2. Pre-heat oven to 150C. Heat the olive oil in a heavy, metal baking dish on a hotplate over medium-high heat. Toss shanks with flour to coat well; then shake off excess. Sear the shanks in hot oil until well browned on all sides, then remove from the dish and set aside.

2. Add the leek, celery, carrot, onion and garlic to the baking dish. Cook until softened and lightly browned, stirring constantly; about 5 minutes. Season with the bay leaf, peppercorns, thyme and rosemary sprigs. Pour in the red wine and chicken stock, increase heat to high and bring to a simmer. Season to taste with sea salt and place the lamb shanks on top of the vegetables.

3. Cover the baking dish tightly with foil and place into the preheated oven. Bake gently until the meat is tender and falls off of the bone, 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Remove the bay leaf and herb stems before serving shanks with vegetables and sauce.