Moroccan-Inspired Lamb Shanks

My relationship with lamb is a funny thing. I love a little loin chop on the barbecue and I grew up on crumbed cutlets, which will forever have a special spot in my heart. On the whole, however, I'm not really a big fan of lamb, which is very peculiar since there is not a lot in this world that I will not eat. I love all sorts of meats, veggies, eggs and dairy, everything seafood related, I'll even eat offal. Sometimes, however, I find even the smell of a joint of lamb, either raw or in the cooking phase, is enough to make my stomach go flipperty gibberty - I can't really pinpoint why. I have no aversion to eating animals, baby or otherwise, so it's not for any kind of moral or emotive reason! Sometimes, I guess, we're just not very good friends.

As a result, lamb tends not to feature very much in my kitchen, and it's usually not until the cold, dark days of winter set in that I recall another cut of lamb which I do actually enjoy, and that is the humble shank. I like pretty much anything if it's slow cooked, and I think a shank cooked for a decent amount of time in a lovely, rich sauce renders a delicious, cheap dinner.

This recipe is one my mum used to cook when I lived at home, and was what she cooked the first time I ever ate lamb shanks. It's definitely a comfort-recipe for me. I say it's 'moroccan inspired' since it features such exotic ingredients as dates and cinnamon quills, but it's really not all that fancy. If you want to carry on the Moorish theme then you might want to serve this with some cous cous, but I like it the way I enjoy everything slow cooked, which is with smooth and creamy mashed potatoes!

What to do:

Coat the shanks in flour and shake off excess. Heat oil in a large casserole dish (a le creuset style pot is great for these) over medium high heat and brown the lamb in batches. Remove from pan and set aside.

Add onion to the same pot (you might need to add a little more oil) and cook, stirring 2-3 mins until the onion begins to soften. Return shanks to the pot with the stock, red wine, tomatoes, dates and cinnamon and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, about 45 minutes until pumpkin has softened and sauce has thickened slightly. Season to taste and stir through the parsley. Serve one shank per person (or two if you're using the scrawny ones) on deliciously creamy mashed potato, with the sauce and pumpkin spooned over.

I don't normally serve anything else since you have lots of pumpkin to devour, but you might want to do some green veg, maybe some sprouts or some brocollini if you feel the need.

For a slow cooker:

If I have a bit of time on the weekend I'll sometimes throw these in the slow cooker, which makes for a more tender bit of lamb and a much richer flavour in the sauce. That's not to say it's not delicious on the hob, as directed above, but you'll achieve a deeper flavour in the slow cooker simply because you are cooking the dish for much longer.

I guess you could just bung all the ingredients in your slow cooker, but I don't - I brown the shanks as above, in a frypan on the stove, and then put them in the bottom of the slow cooker crock. I'll also saute my onions in the frypan before putting them in the slow cooker crock as well. Thereafter I add all ingredients except the parsley, salt and pepper, and cook on high in the slow cooker for 4 hours. Season to taste and stir through the parsley as noted above.

**

A note on the yield: My husband and I generally have one shank each, sometimes he will be greedy and eat two. This depends on your personal preferences and, if you have a bigger appetite than we do then you will need to adjust the recipe accordingly. I have suggested four shanks serve four people, but I am talking about nice, big, plump shanks from the butcher. If your shanks are more scrawny ones from the supermarket, you might want to double the yield. I generally keep the sauce ingredients at the same quantity, but add a bit extra stock and pumpkin.