First slow cooker recipe of the Autumn - and this one ticks a lot of boxes! A simple cut of meat used to full effect.. slow cooked to get the most from the bones too - and with a rich red wine gravy. Come home to a totally fuss free Sunday dinner.. you just have put it together when you're still in your PJs...
Lamb Shanks Bourgignon - for 2-3
4 - 6 baby onions or 2 large ones
2-3 lamb shanks
some flour to dust them in
a knob of butter
2-3 slices of bacon
about 10 mushrooms
at least 2 garlic cloves, smashed,
1 large aubergine, roughly chopped
200ml red wine
400ml stock (beef, lamb or chicken)
150ml water, or enough to cover the cooking dish
tomato paste - tablespoon, or just a massive squirt of
1 large bay leaf
Get your slow cooker ready and plug in - or preheat your oven to 180c/325f. Peel the onions leaving the root in tact. Coat the lamb in seasoned flour and shake off the excess. Brown the lamb shanks in hot oil in a casserole pan until browned, then remove, leaving the juices behind.
Melt the butter in the same pan, then add the onions, bacon, mushrooms, garlic cloves just smashed, and the aubergine pieces. Cook for 5-10 minutes then add the lamb back in, along with stock, wine, water, tomato paste and bay leaves. Bring to the boil.
Now you can choose whether to pop it in the oven - which will take only about 1.5hrs - or put it in the slow cooker - where it can languish for as long as you need it to.
Don't forget your roasties - enjoy with seasonal and mineral rich parsnips and potatoes, steamed deep dark greens and, for us, the last harvest of runner beans.