Braised Lamb Shanks w/ Rosemary

I recently had a dinner party and decided on lamb shanks.
Much less expensive than veal osso buco for a crowd.

Braising for hours ensures that the meat falls right off the bone. The last time I served this over polenta, but mashed potatoes or mashed cauliflower works well too.

The tomato, wine & rosemary sauce makes your kitchen smell so good, you might not want to leave the house for 2 days.



Braised Lamb Shanks w/ Rosemary: (adapted from All Recipes)

6 lamb shanks
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, chopped
3 large carrots, cut into 1/4 inch rounds
10 cloves garlic, minced
1 (750 ml) bottle red wine
1 (28 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes with juice
1 (10.5 ounce) can chicken broth
1 (10.5 ounce) can beef broth
5 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme

Sprinkle shanks with kosher salt and pepper. Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Working in batches, cook shanks until brown on all sides, about 8 minutes. Transfer shanks to plate.

Add onions, carrots and garlic to pot and saute until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Stir in wine, tomatoes, chicken broth and beef broth. Season with rosemary and thyme. Return shanks to pot, pressing down to submerge. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low. Cover, and simmer until meat is tender, about 2.5 hours.

Remove cover from pot. Simmer about 20 minutes longer. Transfer shanks to platter, place in a warm oven. Boil juices in pot until thickened, about 15 minutes. Spoon over shanks.

Note: I had about 2 quarts of delicious lamb stock leftover.
Don't even think of throwing this valuable liquid out!

I put the liquid in containers and refrigerated the stock overnight.
I skimmed off the layer of fat and made a DELICIOUS soup with the leftover lamb meat, added a can of chicken stock and a can of chickpeas. It made enough for 6 bowls of hearty soup!