Herbed Roasted Lamb Shank

An old friend of mine was given a gorgeous lamb shank and had no idea what to do with it. I looked around for some good recipes and then messed them about to come up with this. This old friend also has a nice camera and some major photog skillz, hence the pretty pictures for this installment.

This recipe takes for ever but the results are so worth the long wait. Be patient and don't give in to the temptation to peek.

- Lamb Shank (you can do this with more than one, we just had one)
- Sea Salt
- Black Pepper
- Olive Oil
- Fresh Herbs (we used Rosemary and Thyme and a few sprigs of fresh Sage)
- Garlic cloves, peeled and crushed (we used about 10. You could always use more)

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees

Line your roasting pan with foil, put the shank in and drizzle it with olive oil. Sprinkle both sides of the shank liberally with sea salt and black pepper. Pop the pan in the oven for 25-30 minutes, you are just browning the shank at this point. It will look delish but don't eat it yet. The best is yet to come.

Turn the oven down to 200, YES 200 degrees.

Crush the garlic with the flat of a chef's knife then sprinkle it all over the shank. Place your herbs on and around the shank then wrap the shank in the foil that was under it. Pull out another swath of foil and wrap it the shank up completely, no holes. You are more or less going to steam the meat that's already brown and crisp so that it will be literally fall-off-the-bone tender.

Once your bundle of joy is all wrapped, put it back in the 200 degree oven for 3 hours. 3 whole hours. Wait. When it's ready, take it out, let it cool a few minutes and open it up. Warning, your house will smell amazing and you will want to yank the lamb out of the oven and devour it with your hands. Don't do this.

For an easy side dish we used ready made mashed potatoes, heated them up with a pat of butter and tossed in the roasted garlic cloves from inside the lamb shank bundle. It was perfect with the herbed, tender lamb.



Bon Apetit!

P.S. Here is my Frenchie Violet enjoying the bone as much as we enjoyed the lamb!