Luscious Lamb Shanks.........

The other half and I have had a very Italian feel to our week. I do love the flavours of the Mediterranean especially Italian food which shows through in a lot of my cooking. The use of fresh ingredients and aromatic herbs to make the simplest meals amazing (I seem to harp on a bit about keeping it simple).

The dish that really stood out was my marvellous lamb shanks, the best cure for the winter blues. An old favourite amongst pretty much everyone that has ever tried it, served with a delicious polenta or a lovely creamy mash potato (which if you ask the other half could be served with any and everything). After I have lightly coated them in flour browned off and put them aside and make a start on the sauce. In a good pan and some nice olive oil sweat off an onion, carrot, celery and a little garlic, then deglaze your pan with some red wine throw in a tin or two of Italian tomatoes, some beef stock and a good dose of fresh thyme. Put the shanks standing up in a large pot and cover with the sauce, turn it down to a really low heat, bang on a lid and simmer for two and a half hours or so until the lamb pretty much falls of the bone. The best thing about lamb shanks is once they have been started you can leave them to their own devices for a few hours, while you take care of a few pressing matters or just sit back enjoy a glass of wine and a nice chat. Once the hours have slowly ticked over remove the lamb shanks and put your sauce through a blender or the trusty food processor and season to taste with a little pepper and sea salt. Serve them up and sprinkle with some fresh parsley and indulge.

Taking care of two:

4 Lamb Shanks
A little flour
30ml good olive oil
1 large carrot roughly chopped
1 large stalk of celery roughly chopped
1 large onion roughly chopped
3 Cloves of garlic
2 tins of Italian tomatoes
500ml beef stock
A few good sprigs of thyme
200ml red wine
Salt and pepper