Lamb shanks with Middle Eastern flavours

Recipes / Meat

Good things come to those who wait, so wind things down this winter with this rich, rewarding slow-cooked lamb.

Recipe «Lamb shanks with Middle Eastern flavours» presented in category Recipes / Meat, to prepare this dish you will need no more 2:30 minutes. To make this dish at home by prescription from the author Gomer would need: 1 tbsp olive oil, 6 lamb shanks, 12 eschalots, 8 cloves garlic, crushed, 1 tsp ground cumin , 1 cinnamon quill, 4 star anise, 1 orange, zest peeled into strips , 2 tbsp tomato paste, 3 tbsp pomegranate molasses, 1L Massel chicken style liquid stock, 6 dried figs, halved, 200g moghrabieh, 30g natural almonds, roasted, 2 oranges, 1 lemon.

Ingredients:

  • 1 tbsp olive oil 
  • 6 lamb shanks 
  • 12 eschalots 
  • 8 cloves garlic, crushed 
  • 1 tsp ground cumin 
  • 1 cinnamon quill 
  • 4 star anise 
  • 1 orange, zest peeled into strips 
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste 
  • 3 tbsp pomegranate molasses 
  • 1L Massel chicken style liquid stock 
  • 6 dried figs, halved 
  • 200g moghrabieh 
  • 30g natural almonds, roasted 
  • 2 oranges 
  • 1 lemon 
  • 1/2 red onion 
  • 50g pitted kalamata olives, halved 
  • 2 tbsp coriander leaves 

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 160C. Heat oil in a casserole over medium heat, then brown shanks, in 2 batches, for 5 minutes or until browned all over. Set aside.
  2. Add eschalots, garlic, spices and orange zest, and stir for 5 minutes or until eschalots are lightly browned. Add tomato paste, pomegranate molasses, stock and figs. Return lamb to casserole, bring to the boil, then cover with a lid and transfer to oven. Cook for 2 hours or until meat pulls away from bone easily; the time will depend on the size of the shanks.
  3. Half an hour before lamb is cooked, cook moghrabieh in a saucepan of boiling salted water for 15 minutes or until almost tender. Drain and keep warm.
  4. Meanwhile, for orange salad, segment oranges and lemon (see note). Cut segments in half, place in a bowl, then squeeze over juice from membranes. Rinse onion under running water and squeeze dry. Add to bowl with olives and coriander, and toss to combine.
  5. Skim off excess fat from shank cooking liquid, scatter with almonds, then serve shanks and liquid with moghrabieh and orange salad.