Slow Cooked Lamb Shank Hotpot.
A dish that takes some time to make, but if you’ve got a day in the garden planned, get the lamb shanks in the oven and get on with your day.
When io was a kid, hot pot used to be a favourite, especially on those dark nights when what was needed was something hot that could put hairs on your chest’. A term I heard a lot when a kid, meaning what was about to be eaten was a hearty meal.
My childhood memories of the family hot pot, was a dish that although really tasty, I still have visions of a layer of a congealing fat.
This recipe isn’t like that at all.
It’s a deeply rich hotpot made with lots of red wine and seasoning, and even if nothing else is served along with it, being filled with carrots, peas, celery and onions means that it ticks the one of the five a day boxes.
I like my portion to sit next to some fresh peppery rocket and chunks of warm bread to dip in that amazing sauce.
Go on, give it a go and enjoy your sweet life!
Slow Cooked Lamb Shank Hotpot
What You Need
570m Red Wine – See Tip Box
400g Tin of Chopped tomatoes
300g Frozen Peas
60g Plain Flour Seasoned with – Paprika, Cinnamon, Salt & Pepper – See Tip Box
60g Butter – Melted – See Tip Box
8 Slices of Thick Cut Bacon – See Tip Box
6 Small Lamb Shanks
6 Garlic Cloves – Roughly Chopped
6 tbsp Vegetable Oil – You may need more
6 tbsp Tomato Puree
4 tbsp Worchester Sauce
4 Carrots – Cleaned and chopped
3 Sticks of Celery – Chopped
3 Large Baking Potatoes – Or equivalent
2 Large Onions – Chopped
2 Bay Leaves
Big chunks of bread to mop up that sauce.
How It’s Done
Heat the oven to 180c
Mix the flour and the rest of the flour seasoning ingredients together for the seasoned flour.
Roll each of the lamb shanks in the seasoned flour to coat them all over, then set aside until needed.
Keep the remaining seasoned flour to use later.
With the addition of tomato puree and seasoned flour.
Pour the vegetable oil into a heavy bottomed cast iron oven proof casserole dish, and let it heat up.
Once the oil is really hot, place a couple of the lamb shanks into the hot oil and brown on each side – make sure to not over crowd the pan, so cook them in batches – See Tip Box
Once all the lamb shanks have a little colour, remove them from the pan onto a plate and set them aside until needed.
Add a little more vegetable oil to the same pan, and add the chopped onion, chopped carrots, chopped celery and the chopped bacon to the pan.
Sprinkle over some Malden salt, a good grind of fresh black pepper and give it a mix up.
On a medium heat, let them all cook down until the vegetables are soft – around 10 minutes.
Add the chopped garlic to the vegetables, give it another stir, and let it cook for another 2 minutes.
Add the tomato puree and three tablespoons of the seasoned flour to the vegetables and mix it all through.
Add the red wine, Worchester sauce and the tin of chopped tomatoes along with the two bay leaves.
With the addition of red wine, Worchester sauce and the tin of chopped tomatoes along with the two bay leaves.
Mix it well and on a low heat, let it gently simmer for 2 minutes.
If not already using a cast iron oven proof casserole dish, transfer to one before nestling the lamb shanks into the sauce.
Nestle the lamb shanks in the sauce before putting in the oven.
Sit the dish on an oven proof tray and place it into the hot oven.
Cook for 2-2 ½ hours, until the lamb comes away from the bone easily – See Tip Box
Turn the lamb shanks a few times during the cooking time to ensure the meat is kept moist and cooks through evenly.
Once the lamb is ready, remove the tray from the oven and then remove the lamb from the casserole dish onto a separate plate.
Set the lamb aside until it’s cool enough to handle.
Once the lamb is cool enough to handle, remove all the meat from the bones, making sure to get rid of any gristle.
Cut the meat into bite side chunks, and set aside until needed.
While the lamb is cooling, prepare the potatoes.
With the skins still on, wash the potatoes, to remove any outside dirt.
Use a mandolin to slice them – If no mandolin, use a very sharp knife and slice as thinly as possible. – See Tip Box
Thin cut potatoes, skin on - i used a mandolin.
Place the sliced potatoes into a bowl filled with enough salted water to cover them completely, set the bowl aside until needed.
Put the butter into a bowl large enough to be able to hold all of the potatoes, and is also microwavable.
Place the bowl in the microwave and melt the butter.
Add some Malden salt and more fresh black pepper to the bowl and give it a mix.
Using a colander, drain all the water away from the potatoes.
Put the drained potatoes into the bowl with the butter and give it a mix so all the potatoes are coated with the melted butter.
The chunks of lamb, and peas , ready for layers of potatoes.
Assembly
Add the frozen peas and the chunks of lamb back into the casserole dish along with the sauce, and a mix it well so everything is distributed evenly.
Spend time and lay the buttered potatoes in a pattern on top of the meat – make the potatoes two or three layers thick.
Return the dish to the oven tray, and put it back in the hot oven to cook for around 50 minutes – until the potatoes have some golden colour to them.
Serve hot.
A couple of layers of buttered potatoes on top.
Tip Box
Wine – Use the wine you love to drink. If it’s not something you’d like to have in your glass, then don’t use it to cook with.
Butter – I always use salted butter in my cooking, but if you don’t have salted, use unsalted.
Bacon – For this recipe, I like to use thick cut bacon, and if I can get my hands on a block of bacon, that’s even better. The choice of using thick bacon is because I like to be able to still see it once the cooking is finished. Thin bacon, when the dish has finished cooking, disintegrates into the sauce. By having the bacon in thick chunks, I still have the pleasure of finding them in the sauce to eat.
Seasoned Flour – Seasoned flour can be anything you want it to be. Depending on what’s being cooked, adding salt, pepper and any other herbs or spices, can add an extra dimension to the flour that coats the meat or fish.
Browning the lamb shanks – When browning the lamb shanks, it’s not about cooking them, it’s about seasoning the outside skin and sealing the moisture into the meat. So, keep a careful eye on them when in the hot pan.
Salt – I always use Malden salt but if using table salt, use less.
Slicing the potatoes – How quickly the potatoes take to cook will partly depend on how thickly the potatoes are sliced. I bought a mandolin a few years ago and love it, so if you get the opportunity, it’s fun to have one and play around with it.
Cooking time – All ovens vary so adjust the cooking time accordingly. The lamb should come off the bone really easily.
Break through the buttery potatoes to get the amazing meat.
