There is nothing better than fall of the bone lamb shanks and a good mash in winter! I’ve tried many recipes but the below by Annabel Langbein is my favourite. Sometimes I add seasonal vegetables like celery and carrots that I have on hand. It can either be cooked in the oven or slow cooker, my preference is to cook it the day before so the fat can be skimmed and the flavours develop.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp flour
• Salt and ground black pepper
• 8 lamb shanks
• 3 tbsp oil
• 4 whole garlic legs, halved crosswise
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• A few drops of hot chilli or pepper sauce
• 1 1/2 cups of a full bodied red wine
• 1 cup of port ( I do sometimes skip this and replace with more wine/stock)
• 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, stalks removed and leaves chopped
• 2 cups of beef or lamb stock

Method

Preheat oven to 180 deg Celsius. Place flour in a clean plastic bag with salt and pepper. Add shanks and shake to lightly coat.

Heat oil in a large, heavy based pan and brown shanks in batches. Transfer to a large baking dish along with garlic halves.

Discard excess fat from the pan, add tomato paste and cook a minute or two to let the flavour develop. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a fast simmer. Stir well to lift any pan sediments then pour over the meat. Cover and bake for 2 hours (or if serving at once and not reheating, cook for 2 1/2 – 3 hrs or until very tender).

Cool, chill then remove any fat that settles on the top. To reheat, bring back to room temperature then cook a further hour at 160 deg Celsius. Remove the shanks and thicken the sauce with a cornflour paste, return the shanks back to the sauce. Serve with a creamy mash and seasonal greens.