Moroccan Style Lamb Shanks with Buckwheat Salad
Serves: 4
Time: 4 hours
This is one of those dinners that does require a lot of time to cook but once it is all in the oven you can relax and enjoy the delicious aroma that will fill the house. Plus once you have the lamb cooking and the salad made your just chilling until it is time to eat. Slow cooked dinners are always worth the wait if you ask me, there is something incredibly snuggly about a delicious soft melt in the mouth dinner.
Leftovers
Your leftovers are a replica of your dinner; it might help to strip the meat off the bone before you container up for lunch.
What you'll need
4 lamb shanks on the bone
1/2 brown onion
4 cloves of garlic
1 can of whole peeled tomatoes
1 litre of chicken stock
Buckwheat
You could substitute buckwheat for brown rice if you prefer...and if you don't think you would use it again, rather than have a half empty packet hang around, why not cook the whole lot?
1/4 cup of currants
1/2 bunch of coriander
1 large sweet potato
1 large red pepper
1 tin of chickpeas
1 cup of buckwheat
From the Pantry
2 teaspoons of paprika
1 teaspoon of cumin powder
1 teaspoon of ground coriander
2 cinnamon sticks or 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
olive oil
salt and pepper
Prep and Cook
Preheat oven to 160c
Prep Veg
Peel and finely slice (brunoise) the onion.
Finely chop garlic.
Brown Lamb
Season the lamb shanks well with salt and pepper.
In a large fry pan on a high heat cook your shanks evenly on each side till they are a nice and deep brown in colour (colour means flavour when browning meat).
Meanwhile
In your casserole dish, sauté the onion and garlic till lightly caramelised.
Add spices and cook for about 30 seconds.
Add your tomatoes, crushing them with your hands as you add them.
Add the stock.
Lastly add your shanks, currants and cinnamon; season well.
Cook for 3 hours, checking at least every hour.
Check Regularly
It's a good idea to get into the habit of checking anything you slow cook regularly, so that you know if your temperature is too hot and the liquid is boiling dry or too low and not moving enough. Checking also allows you to to feel the progress of your meat. I cook a lot to feel and every cut of meat is different and depends on so many factors. The more you check something the more familiar you will become with the cooking process and then you will know by feel when the meat is ready and melting off the bone.
Roast Veg
Peel your sweet potato and cut into chunky pieces about the size of a large thumb.
Toss with olive oil and salt and pepper and layout on an oven tray lined with baking paper.
Roast for 15 minutes.
Cut the red pepper in half and remove the seeds, then cut into pieces of a similar size and again toss in olive oil with salt and pepper.
Drain your can of chickpeas.
Remove your sweet potato from the oven after the 15 minutes and scatter over the red pepper and the chickpeas.
Return to the oven and cook for a further 15 minutes.
Cook buckwheat
Rinse buckwheat thoroughly under running cold water.
Bring a pot of water up to the boil and add your buckwheat then turn down to a simmer, stirring occasionally.
Cook till al dente - approx. 10 mins.
Strain and set aside to cool.
Fluff up with a fork once it has cooled a little and season with salt and pepper.
Add roughly chopped root ends of your coriander and mix well.
Make it Pretty
Remove your shanks from the sauce and mix through the roasted veg and chickpeas.
Spoon your buckwheat into the base of your bowls, top with the wet ingredients.
Lay your lamb shank slightly off the center.
Sprinkle with roughly chop coriander.
Mix roasted veg through the meat sauce.
Enjoy!
Lunch Tomorrow
Lunch tomorrow is the same, but make life easier and strip the meat off the bone and then add back into the wet mix so that it is easier to eat on the go.