The Best Lamb Shank Recipe… Ever!

Fancy something tasty for the weekend? Then have a go cooking up some succulent and juicy lamb shanks.

Filled with garlic and rosemary butter and coated with seasoned flour, these lamb shanks are so tender, the meat literally falls of the bone.

Read on and get the recipe for the best lamb shanks you’ll EVER have!

It’s hard to believe that in a few short months, it will be the end of the year, already.

Seriously, where did the days go?

This year has been quite interesting so far, to say the least but quite frankly, my whole entire life can be described as interesting (and that’s putting it mildly).

So how has your year been thus far? Good or bad?

Either way, one thing I have noticed is that whilst going through life’s multitude of differing experiences, the whole purpose is to learn and grow from them, regardless of whether they have been pleasurable or painful.

I read an interesting fact a while back that the forty-year trip which Moses and the Israelites took from Egypt to get to the promised land was actually only supposed to take eleven days!

That’s right.

What was essentially an eleven day trip – just under a fortnight – ended up taking the Israelites forty years due to their stubbornness and inability to learn from the error of their ways.

By their own stubborn doings and through their own constant wrong choices, they literally ended up going round and round in circles… until they finally got it and as a result, reached their desired final destination.

This clearly suggests that we have to go round the mountain (or mountains) of life until we learn the necessary lessons vital for our growth, which will then enable us to move closer to our beautiful destiny (which I believe we are ALL promised).

Furthermore, the lessons gleaned along the way will undoubtably equip us with the wisdom to be able to appreciate all the good destined for us.

Good which would have otherwise been taken for granted – or not even acknowledged – had we not gone through the experiences where the lessons were ultimately learnt in the first place.

Some lessons are harder than others but ultimately, all of life’s experiences can be for our enlightenment.

I recently came across a brilliant post on Twitter that stated,

‘If you’re going through hell, keep going.’

Or you can choose to quit and just lie down. Right in the midst of hell…

You have to keep going.

Even if what was initially meant to be a simple trip turns into a tedious trek, full of mountains, terrains and valleys, just keep going.

Learn what needs to be learnt, ALLOW yourself to be strengthened and enlightened from the experience/s and keep going.

Life as a whole will get better.

All life wants is for your happiness… even more so than you realise.

However, to truly be happy, you cannot keep on making the same mistakes and expect a different outcome, hence why it is imperative that you learn from your mistakes in order to grow, move on and enjoy all the beauty waiting for you.

The only other alternative would be to remain stagnant and continue to receive the bad ultimately lying in wait for you…

Be humble, think big, be strong, live good, keep going and keep GROWING.

Just thought I’d put that out there for anyone who may be feeling a bit down and in need of some inspiration. ️

So, with that in mind, let’s get on with today’s recipe!

There’s no doubt that it can be quite hunger-inducing going through life to get to the wondrous destiny, so much so that only a hearty and meaty meal will do.

A meaty meal of succulent, melt-in-the-mouth lamb shanks!

I first made these a couple of months ago and was totally blown away with how delicious they were!

I managed to leave one out of the batch for the purposes of taking pictures for this specific post but felt that one plate of shanks and mash just wasn’t enough so really just had to go and buy another batch of lamb shanks in order to make the above full table layout… which admittedly I similarly devoured moments later!

I’ve had lamb shanks before (last time was in a pub on Whitehall some years ago) but none compare to these.

The red wine, rosemary, butter, seasonings and that home-made touch all combine to make these lamb shanks the best I’ve ever tasted.

Literally cooked in their own juices for several hours, what’s produced is mouth-watering lamb that falls of the gravy-filled bone, I’m telling you, everything about this meal is divine.

The gravy is so rich and sublime, one bite has you licking and smacking your lips with delight.

Perfect for a Sunday dinner, there’s no doubt that these lamb shanks will be a sure-fire winner!

Serve with vegetables and cauliflower mash for a totally paleo meal.

Ingredients

1. 5 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2. 4-6 lamb shanks
3. 150g butter
4. Pinch salt
5. Pinch pepper
6. 3 sprigs of fresh rosemary
7. 3 sprigs fresh sage
8. 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
9. 2 bay leaves
10. Flour (tapioca/coconut for paleo)
11. 2 onions, chopped
12. 3 carrots, chopped
13. 3 leeks, sliced
14. 11 cloves garlic, unpeeled
15. 3 stock cubes
16. 2 (large) glasses red wine
17. 1 glass water

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180c.
2. In a blender, add the leaves from two sprigs of the rosemary, thyme and rosemary. Add the butter, a clove of peeled garlic, a pinch of salt and pepper and blend until all the ingredients are combined.
3. With a sharp knife, cut holes several times into each lamb shank. Ensure the holes are big enough to shove bits of the seasoned butter into.
4. Cut the holes to the bone and once you have finished, divide the butter equally into the holes. Push the butter into the holes of all the lamb shanks.
5. Next, coat the lamb shanks with flour seasoned with salt and pepper.
6. Place the oil in an oven-proof casserole dish/pot and fry the shanks evenly until browned.
7. Remove the lamb shanks and set aside.
8. In the same pot, fry the onions, leeks, carrots and garlic for several minutes until softened, before adding back the lamb shanks, along with the wine, bay leaves, remaining rosemary, thyme, sage leaves, stock cubes and (if necessary as the wine may be sufficient to cover the lamb) the glass of water.
9. Give everything a good stir (without disturbing the meat) and after a couple of minutes cover the pot with a lid and place the pot in the oven to slow cook for approximately 2-3 hours or until the lamb shanks are cooked through, the sauce is deliciously thick and glistening and the meat is falling of the bone.

Taste tip

1. For extra flavour, you can also add All-Purpose seasoning to the flour before coating with the lamb shanks.
2. For extra, extra flavour, you can season the lamb shanks overnight in a combination of All-Purpose, onions, garlic and herbs before going through the above directions.

Fit tip

1. To get as much fat out of this dish as possible, after cooking allow the pot to cool down before placing in the fridge over night.
2. The next day the fat will have risen and solidified to the top of the dish, making it easy to just scoop out and discard before re-heating the lamb shanks.

By Justina Elumeze