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lamb shanks, olive oil, garlic, shallot, carrots, celery, dry red wine, tomato paste, balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, bay leaves, peppercorns
Category
Main Event
Cook Time
210 minutes
Okay…yes, we hear you. This is way fancier than your average game day food. Founder Daina just got such a craving for lamb shanks one night and had to make them, so she came up with this recipe on the first try. Sometimes recipe testing necessitates making a dish more than once to get it right, but not this time.
In this case, the dish came out mouth-wateringly delicious on the first go (mic drop!), and we’re sticking with it. With all those classic spices and flavors, plus red wine to bring out the taste of the lamb, it’s just good, dammit. And if you don’t love lamb, you can make this dish with pork instead!
Ingredients
4 lamb shanks (or pork shanks, if you prefer)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Coarse sea salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste
6 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
1 shallot, roughly chopped
5 medium carrots, cut into ¼-inch rounds
5 medium celery stalks, cut into ¼-inch slices
1 bottle dry red wine
3 tablespoons tomato paste
½ cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon maple syrup
½ cup water
4 fresh bay leaves
1 teaspoon black or pink peppercorns
Directions
Preheat oven to 300degreesF*.
Season meat with salt and pepper on all sides.
In a large, enameled casserole dish or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, brown the meat on all sides, about 4–5 minutes per side.
Add in garlic, shallots, carrots, celery, wine, tomato paste, balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, and water. Stir well until tomato paste is incorporated. Bring to a boil for 5 minutes.
Lower heat to a simmer and add in the bay leaves and in the peppercorns. Cover and put into oven for about 3 hours, turning the meat once.*
Once the shanks are done cooking in the oven, remove the sauce from the Dutch oven and add to a skillet. Keep the meat in the Dutch oven and keep warm over a simmer or put back in the oven (with the heat off).
Take the skillet with the sauce and place over a low heat, reducing the remaining liquid for about 20 minutes.
One liquid is reduced, reunite the sauce with the lamb. Serve and enjoy!
Recipe Note
Pro Tip:
If you want a shorter cooking time, you can cook this dish at 325 degrees F for 90 minutes.