Close up of lamb shanks in black casserole pot

This Rioja-braised lamb shanks with chorizo and garlic dish is one from Lorraine Pascale's Home Cooking Made Easy recipe book. If you love Rioja wine, lamb and chorizo then you're definitely going to love it like we do!! We've had the recipe book for a few years and have made this dish a few times as well as having it made for us once by good friends. It does take a bit of time to make, however, most of the time is in the oven so you can get on with other things, and it is quite rich but definitely worth having as a treat every now and again!

We enjoy this Rioja-braised lamb shanks with chorizo and garlic recipe with creamy mashed potatoes and some extra veg on the side.

There's quite a few good recipes in the book...so watch out for a few more being added to Felly Bull.

Tips

Lamb shanks don't seem to be particularly easy to get in our local supermarkets, so I'd recommend going to your local butcher. For making the dish last month, I went to Meet the Meat who were kind enough to cut me lamb shanks from lamb legs while I waited...they were huge and delicious!!
Balsamic vinegar - if you're using a less expensive kind, just use 100ml of it, plus 150ml beef stock or Rioja.
Chorizo - cut the slices from a chorizo sausage rather than buying the pre-sliced kind that you would buy for a pizza topping.

Other Recipes

Ingredients

4 lamb shanks
salt and freshly ground black pepper
oil, for cooking
350ml Rioja or 350ml good quality beef stock
250ml good quality balsamic vinegar (see Tips)
1 whole bulb of garlic, cut in half horizontally
2 bay leaves
1 to 2 tsp paprika (or to taste)
a few black peppercorns
4 sprigs of fresh rosemary
300ml beef stock
125g chorizo sausage cut into slices (approx 0.5 cm thick)
1 large red onion, peeled and cut into wedges
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 squidge of honey (optional - we’ve never bothered to add this)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 150C (300F), gas mark 3. Season the lamb well with salt and pepper. Add a little oil to a large frying pan over and heat over a high heat. Turn down the heat slightly and brown the lamb shanks all over, then set aside.
In a large saucepan with lid, pour in the wine and balsamic vinegar and bring to the boil. Boil for 5 minutes then add the browned lamb shanks, garlic, bay leaves, paprika, peppercorns, half the rosemary and stock. Place the pan over a high heat, cover with the lid and bring it to the boil. As soon as it is boiling, take the pan off the heat, place it in the oven and cook for 2 hours.
Remove the pan from the oven and add the chorizo, onion, carrots, honey to taste (if using), and the rest of the rosemary, then return to the oven and cook for another hour, or until the meat is almost falling off the bone and you can pull the meat away from the bone with little effort.
Scoop the lamb and vegetables out of the pan with a slotted spoon and keep warm. Leave a few garlic cloves if you want to intensify the flavour of the sauce. For a thicker sauce put the pan back on the heat and bring to the boil. Boil it fiercely for about 8 to 10 minutes until it is the right thickness, then leave to cool slightly. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
Serve the lamb and vegetables with smooth creamy mashed potatoes and lots of the lamb shank sauce…oh and a glass of Rioja - enjoy!!

Lamb shank on a dark blue dinner plate with white berry pattern and mashed potatoes

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