Braised Lamb Shanks Osso Buco

I picked these lamb shanks up about a month ago at Kroger of all places, and stashed them away in the chest freezer in our garage and forgot about them. And then the snow came. There's something about meat falling off of the bone in a rich, cooked for hours sauce that seems to go with the cold.

I had to read up on how to properly prepare lamb shanks. Basically, trim as much of the outer layer of fat as possible, and at the small end of the shank, cut the meat and fat away from the bone. This will allow it to get that nice meat lollipop look, like a turkey leg of lamb.

I looked through a lot of recipes, and this one looked like the best for what I wanted. So many of them were recipes for 6-8 Shanks.

This turned out amazing. The only silverware you'll need will be a fork, and there is enough sauce left over to save and serve over egg noodles another night.

Ingredients:

Olive Oil

2 Lamb Shanks, about 1 1/2 lbs. each

Salt and Pepper

2 Onions, chopped

2 Celery Stalks, diced

2 Carrots, diced

6 Cloves of Garlic, minced

1/2 Bottle of Red Wine

One can of Crushed Tomatoes

1 1/2 cups Chicken Broth

2 Tablespoons Rosemary

1/4 Cup of Chopped Flat Leaf Parsley

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325.

Trim and french lamb shanks, removing the outer layer of fat and fell (the thin membrane), and cutting the meat and fat away from the bone on the small end of the shank. Then liberally season the shanks with salt and pepper.

Place 2-3 counts of Olive Oil in a large oven proof pot over medium-high heat. Brown the shanks on all sides, about 10 minutes total.

Remove the shanks and set aside, pour out fat from the pot. Add another 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and put the onions, carrots, celery and garlic in the pot. Cook until vegetables are softened - about 10 minutes.

Add the wine (I used a 2006 Oreana Red Table Wine we picked up from Trader Joe's for $6. One of the better reds we've had from there.)and bring to a boil over medium-high heat and let simmer for 3 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients, bring back to a boil and add the lamb shanks back to the party.

Cover and place in the oven for 3 hours. This will be a loooong 3 hours because you will smell the rosemary immediately. No peeking.

Remove from the oven, and pull out the lamb shanks and set aside. Turn the oven up to 350.

On the stovetop, bring the braising liquid to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer for 15 minutes - spoon off any excess fat that gathers on top of the liquid.. This is the perfect time to do your mashed potatoes or noodles or whatever you'll be serving this with.

After 15 minutes, I took an immersion blender to the liquid to give it more of a saucy consistency - you could run it through a food processor, or just leave the veggies as is.

Return the shanks to the liquid, cover and put back in the oven for 1o minutes to reheat.

Serve over mashed potatoes, noodles or polenta. You'll want something to soak up the saucy goodness.