Braised lamb shanks with artichokes | Jarretes de cordero estofados con alcachofas

These pot-roasted lamb shank with artichokes take a while to cook but are in fact very easy to prepare. This is one to make when you feel you deserve a treat – it definitely does the job.

Prepare yourself for mellow, fall-off-the-bone lamb. If lamb is not your thing, you can always use shin of beef.

 INGREDIENTS

• 100 ml olive Oil

• 4 Lamb shanks

• Garlic cloves, peeled but left whole

• 1 Spanish onion, finely chopped

• 2 Carrot, peeled and finely chopped

• 2 Celery stick, finely chopped

• 1 Bay leaf

• 5 Sage leaves

• 2 sprigs of Rosemary

• 1 Tomato

• 200 ml red Wine

• 150 ml white Wine

• 1 tbsp muscovado Sugar

• 3 large globe Artichokes, prepared

• Salt and freshly ground black Pepper

• 1 litre of Water

Preparation

1. Marinate the shanks on the red wine for 24 hours before you cook them.

2. Preheat the oven to 160°C/gas mark 3 and season the lamb shanks all over with salt and pepper.

3. Pour the oil into an ovenproof casserole dish; it needs to be big enough to hold the shanks tightly as well as the rest of the ingredients. Place it over a medium to high heat and add the lamb shanks. Brown them on all sides then remove from the pan and set aside.

4. Into the same oil add the whole garlic cloves, carrot, onion, celery and herbs. Cook for a 10 minutes until all the vegetables have acquired a dark brown colour. Add the herbs and tomato and cook for 1 minute before returning the lamb shanks to the pan. Add the red and white wine and simmer for 2 minutes until the wine has reduced.

5. Add the sugar, season with salt and pepper and add 1 litre of water. Bring to the boil, cover with a lid and cook in the oven for 3 hours, turning the shanks over once during cooking so that no one part of the shank dries out. After 2 hours, clean and prepare the artichokes, cut them in triangle and add them to the pan. They will cook to perfection in the last hour. After 3 hours the meat should be beautifully tender and falling off the bone.

6. If you like the rustic approach you can serve the dish pretty much as it is. If you want to go a step further you can remove the lamb and artichokes from the pan, skim the fat from the sauce and then strain the sauce into a clean pan. Reduce down until the sauce is very thick and sticky and then pour over the lamb and artichokes.
   
   Note
   The key for intense tasting sauces when you are braising or slow-cooking any dish, is to brown and caramelize all the ingredients really well before you add any liquid to the pan.