The Recipe Box – Recipe 4.0: Lamb Shanks in Red Wine Sauce

…served with mashed potatoes

Serves

4 People

Prep Time

30 min

Cook time

2.5 -3 Hours

Recipe notes:

• Make sure your Dutch oven or pot is large enough for the lamb shanks and sauce.
• Using frozen mashed potatoes is a huge time saver, and no one will notice!

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp Member’s Mark by Tone’s Sea Salt, separated
• 1 tsp Member’s Mark by Tone’s Black Ground Pepper
• 1 tsp Member’s Mark by Tone’s Spanish Style Paprika
• 4 tbsp olive or vegetable oil (divided)
• 4 lamb shanks, around 12 oz each
• 1 medium onion, finely diced
• 2-3 carrots, finely diced (yield about 1 cup)
• 2-3 celery ribs, finely diced (yield about 1 cup)
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2½ cups full bodied red wine
• 1-28 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 cups chicken stock (or water)
• 2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
• 3 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
• 3 dried bay leaves or 4 fresh

Directions:

• Place oven rack on second lowest level in oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In a small bowl, mix together 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp fresh ground pepper, and 1 tsp paprika. Drizzle in 1 tbsp oil, and mix to create a paste. Rub spice mixture onto lamb shanks. This can be done the night before, the morning of, or right before cooking. (Longer time adds more flavor to the meat.)
• Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in the pot to medium high heat. Brown the lamb shanks, 2 at a time, about 5 minutes or until all sides are nicely browned. Transfer to a plate.
• Turn heat down to medium, add remaining oil and heat to temp. Add the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic. Saute, stirring often, until the onions turn translucent-about 10 minutes. Add the red wine and turn heat up to medium high. Simmer about 3 minutes, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pot to get all the brown bits released into the sauce.
• Add crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, chicken stock, spices, remaining 1 tsp salt, (pepper to taste), and stir to combine. Place lamb shanks back into pot, making sure to submerge them into the sauce. Bring sauce back up to simmer, cover, then transfer pot to oven.
• Cook for 2 hours, then carefully turn the lamb shanks over, and cook another 20-30 minutes. Transfer lamb to platter and cover with tin foil. Increase heat and simmer sauce on sauce about 15 minutes longer. You can also use an immersion blender to puree sauce. Remove bay leaves, and carefully blend to desired consistency. If sauce is too thick, add more chicken stock or water. Salt and pepper to taste.
• Serve lamb shanks over mashed potatoes with sauce spooned generously over top.
• Garnish with sprig of fresh rosemary (optional).