D e l i s i o u c i t y

Since the success of the lamb shank experiment posted here some weeks ago, I’ve been patiently waiting for another moment of craving for red meat.  It doesn’t come very quickly, I must admit, and maybe it’s a good thing since red meats (let alone lamb) are the very definition of calorific monstrosity. At long last, the frozen lamb shanks I have stashed away for such moments of hankering have finally been devoured. It doesn’t take too much effort to make this resulting dish, in fact the only trouble is to be patient about the wonderful smell of slow oven braising.

Braised Lamb Shanks with Sweet Potatoes
By Nikki A.
www.delisioucity.com

2 pieces lamb shanks, cleaned
4 Tbspn olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1.5 cm fresh ginger
3 Cups beef stock
2 medium sweet potatoes, diced
1/2 potato, diced
1 carrot, diced

Method
Heat the olive oil and fry the shanks until browned on most parts. Remove the shanks and place on a plate. Using the same oil, sautee the onions, ginger and garlic until translucent. Add the potatoes and carrots and continue to cook on medium heat. Add beef stock and let simmer until slightly reduced. Add the shanks to the gravy, and put in oven at 220C for 2 to 3 hours.

Penne Al’ arrabiata

1 Cup penne, cooked to aldente
2 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
2 Tbspn oliver oil
4 to 5 Tbspn tomato puree/chopped tomato/tomato sauce
3 thinly sliced chilli (I used the green chilli variety – which is why you can’t see it in the picture)
1 stalk of fresh cilantro, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil, then fry in the garlic. Add the chillies and tomato, then pieces of lamb shank and don’t forget the tender sweet potatoes and carrots from the braise. Sautee, and add the penne. Incorporate well and serve with chopped cilantro as topping. Add parmesan if you like.

Some notes I thought you might like to know:

• Arrabiata means tomato and chilli sauce. Remember, the chillies I used here are the green variety… so you can’t really see them but they’re there! I wish I had put in some more chillies though.
• I used much lesser tomato in this recipe because I wanted the taste of the braised lamb and sweet potato to predominantly come through.
• Why cilantro? Well you can replace that with fresh basil if you like for a more authentic Italian dish. I just happened to have cilantro in the fridge, waiting to be used and eager to rot ^_^

Selamat mencuba !

-nix-