Lamb Shanks with Barley

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This recipe pre-dates my 5 Ingredients philosophy.

Lamb Shanks with Barley

From Stonesoup

The awesome thing with this dish is that the barley soaks up all the cooking juices to become a delicious risotto-ish accompaniment to the meltingly tender shanks without all the stirring. Thanks to the dynamic Maggie Beer for the inspiration.

makes heaps
6 lamb shanks, frenched
2T olive oil
3 med brown onions peeled & quartered lengthwise
3 cloves garlic peeled & smashed
400g tin tomatoes
1/2C white wine
3T red wine vinegar
1L chicken stock
1 stick cinnamon
1t black peppercorns
4 sprigs thyme
2 sprigs rosemary
200g pearl barley
wilted greens such as spinach, silverbeet or cavolo nero, to serve

1. Preheat oven to 150C. Heat oil in a large heat proof casserole dish and brown shanks over medium heat. Remove shanks and add onion. Cook stirring for a few minutes to just start to get some colour in the onion but don’t worry about getting it soft. Add garlic and cook for another minute.

2. Add wine and deglaze the pan. Return shanks and add remaining ingredients except the barley. Wet a piece of greaseproof paper large enough to cover the surface of your dish and place this over the shanks. This will keep the tops of the shanks moist but will allow some evaporation. Place in the oven an cook for 3-4 hours turning the shanks every now and then.

3. Meanwhile bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and simmer barley for 20 minutes. Drain barley and add to the shanks once they have been cooking for about 1 1/2 hours. The barley will soak up the cooking juices so you may need to top up with extra stock or some water if they start to look dry.

4. When the shanks are meltingly tender and almost falling off the bone season with s&p and serve with wilted greens passed separately.

Note: If you are short of time feel free to cook the shanks at a higher temp. Like all good stews this can be made ahead and reheated when you’re ready to eat.