Lamb Shank & Puy Lentil Stew

by Jessica Nguyen

 

This is a wintry and comforting one pot 'set and forget' recipe that requires min effort but delivers max return and flavour. It’s a riff off my very popular Lamb Ragu recipe, but even easier.

The shanks serve 4 and you should get 8-10 portions from the stew. I also like to have the leftover stew with rice or even mix it with pasta as another iteration of the dish. As always, the stew is also freezer friendly.

 

Serves- 4

Cooking time- 3.5 hours (30 mins prep/cooking, 3 hrs slow cooking)

Ingredients- 12

Skill Level- Easy 



Ingredients


  • 4 lamb shanks

  • 2 tablespoons of tomato paste

  • 1 large bottle (700g) passata

  • 4 carrots, peeled and cut into 4cm slices

  • 3 stalks of celery, diced (plus leaves, optional)

  • 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

  • 1 leek, white parts cut into 3cm pieces

  • 1 cup of puy lentils

  • 3 tablespoons of Vietnamese fish sauce. If you don't have this on hand, just use 1-2 tablespoons of salt to season, but I do love fish sauce as it adds a greater depth of flavour to dishes like this.

  • 2-3 bay leaves, optional

  • A few sprigs of your choice of herbs (rosemary, thyme, oregano), optional

  • 2 cups of red wine. Anything medium bodied like a shiraz will work well


Method

  1. Pre-heat your oven to 160 degrees Celsius. 
  2. Heat a big pot with some olive oil and once hot, sear and brown the lamb shanks in the pot. Make sure you turn your shanks around every few minutes to ensure even browning on all of its surface area. To make sure the ends of the shanks are also browned, I normally stand the shanks up with the ends facing into the oil using tongs and hold for about a minute. 
  3. Once evenly browned, transfer to a tray whilst you prepare the sauce for the stew.Tip out any excess oil from your pot. Do not wipe your pot clean, the crispy brown bits you see from searing the lamb is called 'fond' and provides a great base flavour for the sauce. 
  4. Add in celery and garlic, cook for 1 minute on medium before adding in tomato paste and cooking for another minute. Pour in the passata and refill the passata bottle with a cup of hot water, cover with the lid, shake and remove all of the remaining passata and pour into the pot. 
  5. Add in red wine and mix to combine before adding the lamb shanks back into the pot, making sure they are fully submerged. Add in the carrots, leeks, fish sauce, bay leaves and herbs, cover with the lid and allow to slow cook in the oven for approx 2-3 hours or until the lamb shanks are tender and the meat is nearly falling off the bone. Make sure to check in with your meat every hour to make sure it’s cooking nicely and give everything a stir.
  6. At the 2-3 hour mark, you'll see that the meat has pulled away from the shank exposing the bone and when you touch the meat it easily falls off the bones. It's now ready to be removed.
  7. Remove the lamb and place into a tray covered with foil to rest while you finish the stew. The sauce should still be quite liquid. Add your puy lentils to the pot, stir into the sauce, cover with a lid and cook for another 30-45 mins in the oven or until the lentils have expanded and are soft.
  8. After 45mins, the lentils will have soaked up the sauce and in turn thickened it into a stew. Now you can serve this with your lamb shanks. A creamy mash and a bitter leaf salad works well as sides to this dish, but if you're in a pinch, creamy polenta or even some crusty bread would work too.

Watch the Process

 

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