Mediterranean lamb shanks
- Preparation 40 min
- Cooking 3 h 50 min
- Servings 4
- Freezing Absolutely
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🫒 Mediterranean lamb shanks
Olives, tomatoes, fennel: it’s insane. With a nice cut of lamb, the flavors are perfect. A comforting dish, ideal for a Saturday night with friends. Break out the big gravy and let yourself go!
🍺 Red wine and amber ale
Both go in the pot. The beer brings a caramelized side that the wine doesn’t. With the black olives and tomatoes cooking for hours alongside the meat, you get a sauce that tastes like just about everything good.
🔥 From the oven, covered the whole time
We bring it to a boil on the stove, then cover it and it finishes in the oven. Never uncovered. It’s done when the meat falls off the bone with a fork. The sauce, you serve as is.
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💧 Enough liquid is what matters
The broth should come three-quarters of the way up the shanks. What goes wrong is not having enough: the meat dries out and the sauce burns on the bottom. Better a little too much than not enough.
🔥 Covered, start to finish
In the oven at 350°F (180°C), the lid stays on the pot for the whole 3 hours 30 minutes. Never uncovered.
🍺 The beer, for the caramelized side
It gives what the wine doesn’t. No beer on hand? Replace it with the same amount of beef broth.
🫒 Sun-dried black olives
Not Kalamata. Use sun-dried black olives, pitted.
🥶 The next day
Not better than the same day, but very good. It keeps 3 to 5 days in the fridge, and it absolutely freezes.
✅ What to serve with my Mediterranean lamb shanks
If you’re into braised lamb, my lamb shanks braised with cherry beer and port, my braised lamb shank curry and my spicy lamb tajine with prunes run in the same vein. And for another braise that takes its time, my braised beef cheeks with port are worth the detour.
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Ingredients
- 4 lamb shanks, about 350 g (¾ lb) each (take out of the fridge 20 minutes before cooking)
- Olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
- 1 small fennel bulb, halved and sliced
- 4 Nantes carrots, sliced
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 375 ml (1 ½ cups) sun-dried black olives, pitted and drained
- 1 cup (250 ml) red wine
- 1 cup (250 ml) amber ale (or the same amount of beef broth)
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) fresh rosemary, finely chopped
- 1 can (796 ml / 28 oz) diced tomatoes with Italian spices
- About 2 cups (500 ml) beef broth
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Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- In a large enameled cast-iron pot over medium-high heat, add a good drizzle of olive oil. Brown the shanks on all sides for 10 to 12 minutes in total. Season generously with salt and pepper. Add oil as needed. Set the shanks aside on a plate.
- Add the onion, fennel and carrots to the pot, followed by a drizzle of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and stir. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring.
- Add the garlic and olives and keep cooking for 2 minutes.
- Deglaze with the wine and the beer, scraping the bottom well to pick up all the flavors. Put the shanks back in the pot.
- Add the rosemary and tomatoes, then pour in enough beef broth to come three-quarters of the way up the shanks. Season generously with salt and pepper and stir gently.
- Bring to a boil on the stove. Cover, place in the oven and cook for 3 hours 30 minutes, covered the whole time, until the meat falls off the bone with a fork. This MUST be served on Israeli couscous along with the braised vegetables and olives!
Yes, with the same amount of beef broth. The beer brings a caramelized side the wine doesn’t, so the taste will be a little different.
Sun-dried black olives, not Kalamata.
After 3 hours 30 minutes in the oven at 350°F (180°C), covered the whole time, the meat falls off the bone with a fork. That’s the only test that counts.
Not better, but very good. The same day, it’s already perfect.
Absolutely. In the fridge, plan on 3 to 5 days.
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