KLEFTIKO – LAMB SHANKS

KLEFTIKO – LAMB SHANKS
Marinate lamb shanks overnight in mixture of crushed garlic (I am a knoffel kop so I used about 6 cloves for 2 shanks cut in half (so 4 pieces of lamb in total), salt, cracked black pepper, half a teaspoon of
mixed herbs (the Robertsons kind is perfect) a pinch of dried chilli (optional, I like a bit of heat), a few glugs of olive oil (about 2 tablespoons), the juice of 2 lemons (depending on how many shanks you are preparing).
ü Heat a little oil in the roasting pan you’re
going to use to cook the kleftiko (oil must be nice and hot) and brown the meat for a half a minute on each side.
ü Pour the marinade over the meat, cover the pan (I cover with foil and the roasting pan’s cover to ensure I keep in all the goodness and juices) and cook away for roughly 3 hours on 180 degrees C /220 oC.
ü By now it should practically be falling of the bone, if not, cook for a further hour.
ü When its cooked I remove the meat from the pan and make a little reduction with the pan juices. I add a little dry red wine (half a glass), mixed with some brown onion soup (half a packet more or less) and
half a teaspoon treacle sugar (this makes all the difference and gives the sauce its beautiful brown colour).
ü Place the meat in the sauce and back in the oven to cook uncovered for about 15 min.
Serve with Basmatic rice, baked potato or steamed veg.

Foto en resep: Sharifa Keita