Italian Slow Cooker Lamb Shanks Food

LAMB SHANKS

Steps:

• For the brine:
• Place the water, sugar, and salt into a large container. Carefully add the lamb shanks and soak for 24 hours.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Remove shanks from the brine and pat dry. Season with salt, pepper, and garlic, to taste.
• Coat shanks with flour and saute in 2 to 3-ounces of virgin olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium-high heat until golden brown, about 5 minutes each side.
• Place the shanks in a roasting pan with the crushed tomatoes.
• In same saute pan that the shanks were seared in, saute the carrots, celery stalks, onion, fresh fennel and garlic until tender, about 5 minutes over medium-high heat. Remove from the heat and add to the roasting pan.
• Deglaze saute pan with 1 cup each red wine and orange juice. Reduce by half and add to roasting pan.
• Add 1/2 cup each fresh Italian parsley and fresh oregano to roasting pan. Cover and roast in oven for 2 hours or until tender. After 1 hour, turn shanks and cover for remaining time, making sure shanks are covered in the gravy.
• Garnish with fresh oregano sprigs and parsley and your favorite Italian cheese. Best served with polenta!

SLOW-COOKED LAMB SHANKS AND TOMATOES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat oil over medium-high. Add onions and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes (if using canned, break them up) and cook until they break down, 6 to 8 minutes.
• Place lamb shanks in pot in a single layer so each shank is covered by sauce. Bring to a boil, cover, then place pot in oven. Cook until meat is very tender and falling off bones, about 3 1/2 hours. Skim fat from cooking liquid and season lamb with salt and pepper. Serve lamb with sauce.

ITALIAN SLOW COOKER LAMB SHANKS

Steps:

• 1. In a large skillet cook bacon on medium low heat until crisp. Remove to slow cooker. Combine flour, rosemary, chiles, two good pinches of salt and grindings of pepper. Dust each lamb shank in the mixture. 2. Add olive oil to the pan and brown shanks on each side over medium heat. Remove and place in one layer in slow cooker. 3. Add onion, celery and carrot and cook for 3 minutes to soften. Add garlic and cook another minute. Add balsamic and white wine and let it cook to reduce halfways, and remaining ingredients, stir to combine and pour over shanks. 4. Set slow cooker on high for 3-4 hours or low for 8 hours. 5. Can be made a day ahead, separate sauce from shanks when storing and spoon the fat off the sauce if necessary.

ITALIAN STYLE LAMB SHANKS

Steps:

• First, you need to roast the capsicums (bell peppers).
• Preheat the oven to 200C (400F) or, alternatively, set grill (broiler) to high temperature.
• Slice capsicums into quarters lengthwise and remove stem, seeds and membrane.
• Coat well with olive oil and place into a roasting tin, skin side up.
• Cook in a hot (200°C) oven or under a hot grill until the skin begins to blacken and bubble.
• Remove and place capsicum pieces into a plastic bag.
• Seal bag and set aside until capsicums are cool.
• When cool, open bag and remove as much peel as possible from capsicums and set aside until needed.
• *Ifthis sounds like too much trouble, you could substitute a bottle (210g approx) of roasted capsicums (drained).
• TO PREPARE THE LAMB SHANKS: Preheat oven to moderate 180C (350F).
• In a large jug, combine beef stock powder, garlic powder, soup mix, red wine, and hot water, mix well.
• Add entire (undrained) contents of the can of peeled tomatoes to the jug, and set aside until needed.
• Heat oil in a large frypan (preferably an ovenproof frypan) or in a dutch oven or similar.
• Add lamb shanks, turn to cover well with oil, then cook on a high heat until brown all over.
• Remove lamb shanks from the pan and set aside.
• Reduce heat in pan, pour off all but 1 tablespoon of oil, and add onion, garlic, thyme and tomato paste.
• Cook for 3-5 minutes, or until fragrant.
• Now pour the contents of the jug into the pan and stir to mix well.
• Add lamb shanks to the pan, turning to coat well with the sauce.
• Increase heat and bring liquid to the boil.
• When liquid is boiling, cover the pan and transfer it (if ovenproof) to the centre shelf of the pre-heated oven.
• *Ifyour pan is not ovenproof, simply tip the shanks and their sauce into a suitable dish before transferring to the oven.
• Cook shanks, covered, in the oven for 2 hours at 180C (350F).
• After 2 hours, add the capsicums.
• Cover and cook for a further 30 minutes.
• Skim any excess fat from the top of the sauce before serving.
• Before serving, add freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste.
• Serve with steamed rice, cous cous, or mashed potatoes.

SLOW-COOKER LAMB SHANKS

Steps:

• If you need to preheat your slow cooker then turn it on now. In a large hot frying pan, add half the oil and brown the lamb shanks all over, then transfer them to the slow cooker. This will take you about 10 mins and you may need to do it in batches. Add the remaining oil to the frying pan and fry the onion gently until it starts to turn translucent, then stir in the tomato purée and flour and cook for a minute.
• Add the red wine and bring it to a boil, stirring the flour and purée into the wine until you have a smooth sauce around the onion pieces. Tip into the slow cooker. Pour the stock into the same pan and bring it to a boil, then tip into the slow cooker. Add the carrots garlic, bay leaves, thyme and parsley stalks to the slow cooker and put the lid on. Cook on low for eight hours or on high for four hours. Turn the shanks over at some point during the cooking.
• After eight hours the lamb should be tender and starting to fall off the bone. If the sauce is too thin lift out the lamb and carrots and tip the sauce into a pan, boil it rapidly until it starts to thicken before adding the parsley.