My husband and I both love lamb, but unfortunately it’s a rare treat due to its’ high cost. While I was out of town, he bought a lamb shank to cook when I returned. I looked up a bunch of recipes and loved the sound of this one from Bobby Flay. But it called for FOUR lamb shanks. Ours was almost ten bucks, four was not a possibility. Plus I’m not a huge meat eater. We decided to follow the recipe, only using one shank. I was really glad we did because that one lamb shank lasted two meals for the two of us. There was a lot of meat on it. Plus the sides made quite a lot, so we were able to fill up on that as well. We also did not have port, so only used red wine instead of a combo of the two. While this meal was not difficult to make, it did take a LOT of time. So don’t plan on this for an after work meal. Best save it for the weekend, my friends.
This is a four recipe meal.
Oven-Roasted Lamb Shanks
Source: Bobby Flay
Ingredients:
3 tbsp evoo
salt, pepper and cajun seasoning to taste
lamb shank(s)
chopped celery
chopped carrots
1 large onion, chopped
2 cups Port
1 cup red wine
4 cups chicken stock
roasted garlic (recipe follows)
toasted orzo (recipe follows)
slow-roasted tomatoes (recipe follows)
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Heat oil in a dutch oven until smoking. Season the shanks and sear on both sides. Set aside on a plate. Add the celery, carrots and onions then cook until carmelized. Add the port and red wine, reduce by half. Add the stock, the pulp from the garlic and return the shanks. Bring to a boil then cover and bake for 2 hours. Remove shanks and strain the sauce into a saucepan (set one cup aside for the orzo!), set over medium heat and reduce once again by half.
Roasted Garlic
Source: Bobby Flay
Ingredients:
2 heads garlic, tops removed
2 tbsp evoo
Method:
Preheat oven to 200.
Place heads in a roasting dish and drizzle with oil. Roast 1.5 hours or until soft. Let cool then remove from the paper/skins and mash to a pulp.
Slow Roasted Tomatoes
Source: Bobby Flay
Ingredients:
4 Roma tomatoes, cut in half vertically
1 tbsp evoo
salt and pepper
Method:
Preheat oven to 200.
Toss tomatoes with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place in a small baking dish and roast for four hours.
Toasted Orzo
Source: Bobby Flay
Ingredients:
1 lb. orzo
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp evoo
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 more tbsp cold butter
1 cup braising liquid from lamb
1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste
Method:
Boil 8 cups water (or water and chicken stock if you like).
Heat nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add 1/2 of the orzo and toast until golden brown. In a medium saucepan, heat 2 tbsp butter and oil over medium heat and add the onion; cook until soft. Add the toasted orzo and the remaining orzo and toss to coat, cook for one minute. Add hot water a little at a time and stir, cook until al-dente. Finish with cold butter and braising liquid. Stir in parsley and season with salt and pepper.
Oven-Roasted Lamb Shanks with Roasted Tomatoes and Toasted Orzo
Cooking With Christen 