Sorry. Video is not available for this recipe.
This recipe pre-dates my 5 Ingredients philosophy.
Roast Lamb Shank & Barley Soup
Lamb and barley are great mates from way back. Roasting the veg and shanks first makes for a lovely depth of flavour in the final soup. This is definitely one of those meal-in-a-bowl dishes that would improve with time, if you have the strength of character to leave it around for a day or two.
The almonds as a garnish were my half hearted attempt to pretty things up. Feel free to abandon them as I did when I actually served it to my guests. A more rustic warts and all approach seemed much more suitable.
Serves 6
4 lamb shanks
2T ground coriander
1T fennel seeds
2t smoky paprika
1t sea salt
2T olive oil
2 red onions, peeled and sliced cross wise into 4 rounds
2 sweet potatoes approx 600g, peeled and quartered
2 carrots, quartered
6 cloves garlic, unpeeled
4 sprigs thyme
1.5L chicken stock
1L boiling water
150g (3/4C) pearl barley
Handful sliced almonds, to serve, optional
Crusty bread, to serve
1. Preheat oven to 200C. Combine oil spices and salt in a small bowl and rub spiced oil over shanks. Place vegetables and thyme in a roasting pan and top with oiled shanks. Season with pepper and bake 1hr, turning once or until well browned.
2. Transfer roasting dish contents to a very large saucepan and add stock. Rinse roasting pan with boiling water making sure you get all the delicious bits and transfer the water to the saucepan.
3. Bring to the boil and then reduce heat and simmer partially covered for an hour. Stir in barley and continue to simmer for an hour and a half or until shank meat is melting off the bone. Skim and excess fat from the top if you like. (This is a good point to refrigerate the soup if you have the time as the fat is much easier to remove once it has solidified).
4. Remove shanks and using two forks shred the meat into bight sized pieces. Return meat to the soup and warm through. Divide between 6 warmed soup bowls and serve hot with a sprinkling of sliced almonds if using and crusty bread passed separately.
Add to my Old Favourite Recipes
The days are cooling down and time for this very good shank and barley soup recipe to grace the table again.
Just checking Jules. I love roast whole garlic cloves and do leave the skins on to achieve this tasty morsel when I do any roast. I imagine they would go in with the vegetables and wonder if or at what point the skins get removed. I guessed they would have to be added maybe half an hour into the roasting to avoid disappearing into nothing. Do the skins maybe float to the surface when the soup simmer part is happening or they perhaps soften and simply join the crew?
Second point. From what I gather all collard greens and garlic benefit our digestion systems measurably more if we allow them to sit on the chopping board for 5 minutes or so before cooking. I picked this up from a site called World’s Healthiest Foods and wondered if it was balderdash or not really worth following?
Oh yay for lamb shanks Jude!
I usually remove the skins after roasting when they’ve cooled down.
You can add them at any point but with the other veg makes the most sense.
I hadn’t heard anything about food being easier to digest after being exposed to oxygen… but it could be possible. One way to know would be to experiment with having the same meal with and without allowing time on the chopping board. And see if you notice any differences in digestability.
Jx
This shank and barley soup is just delicious, heart warming and definitely tastes even better the next day if you can just avoid eating it all at the first sitting.
So glad you liked it Jude!