Cooking Finnsheep Lamb Shanks

4 servings · 8 hours on low, 15 minutes of work

Serves: 4 Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 8 hours on low INGREDIENTS - 4 Finnsheep lamb shanks - 1 onion, chopped - 4 garlic cloves - 2 carrots, chopped - 1 cup red wine or stock - 1 can crushed tomatoes - 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper, 1 tbsp dried rosemary DIRECTIONS 1. Season the shanks with salt and pepper and put everything in the slow cooker. Browning first is nice but optional. 2. Cook on low for 8 hours. The meat should slide off the bone when nudged with a spoon. 3. Skim the fat from the juices, mash the vegetables into the sauce, and serve over mashed potatoes, polenta, or buttered noodles.

4 servings · 3 hours, mostly in the oven

Serves: 4 Prep time: 25 minutes Cook time: about 2½ hours at 325°F INGREDIENTS - 4 Finnsheep lamb shanks - 2 tbsp ghee - 1 onion, 2 carrots, 2 celery stalks, chopped - 4 garlic cloves - 2 tbsp tomato paste - 1½ cups red wine - 2 cups lamb or beef stock - 2 bay leaves, a few thyme sprigs DIRECTIONS 1. Brown the seasoned shanks deeply in ghee in a Dutch oven — this crust is where the sauce gets its flavor. Remove. 2. Soften the vegetables, stir in tomato paste, then add the wine and scrape the browned bits off the bottom. 3. Return the shanks, add stock to come halfway up, and braise covered at 325°F for 2 to 2½ hours, turning once, until spoon-tender. 4. Rest the shanks while you simmer the sauce to a glossy consistency. Strain if you want it restaurant-smooth.

4 servings · 3½ hours

Serves: 4 Prep time: 40 minutes Cook time: about 3 hours INGREDIENTS - 4 Finnsheep lamb shanks, flour-dusted - 1 onion, 1 carrot, 1 celery stalk, finely diced - 1 cup dry white wine - 2 cups chicken stock - 1 strip of orange zest, 1 bay leaf - Gremolata: ½ cup parsley, zest of 1 lemon, 1 garlic clove, all minced fine - Risotto: 1½ cups arborio rice, a pinch of saffron, 5 cups hot stock, butter, parmesan DIRECTIONS 1. Brown the floured shanks, then braise with the vegetables, white wine, stock, orange zest, and bay at 325°F for about 2½ hours until the meat nearly falls from the bone. 2. With 30 minutes to go, start the risotto: toast the rice, add saffron, and ladle in hot stock a cup at a time, stirring, until creamy and just tender, about 20 minutes. Finish with butter and parmesan. 3. Reduce the braising liquid to a glaze and strain. 4. Plate a spoonful of risotto, set a shank upright on it, spoon over the glaze, and shower with gremolata — the raw lemon-garlic brightness is what lifts the whole dish.