Oven Roasted Lamb Shanks With Roasted Tomatoes And Toasted Orzo Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
• Combine the flour, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper in a bowl and dredge the lamb shanks in the mixture, shaking off the excess. In a large (13-inch) Dutch oven such as Le Creuset, heat 3 tablespoons of the grapeseed oil over medium-high heat. Add 2 lamb shanks and cook for 10 minutes, turning every few minutes, until browned on all sides. Transfer the shanks to a plate, add more grapeseed oil, and brown the remaining 2 shanks.
• Wipe out the Dutch oven with a paper towel, add the olive oil, and heat over medium to medium-high heat. Add the onions, carrots, celery, and rosemary and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Add the garlic and cook 1 more minute. Add the tomatoes, beef broth, wine, 4 teaspoons salt, and 2 teaspoons pepper. Add the lamb shanks, arranging them so they're almost completely submerged in the liquid. Tuck in the bay leaves and bring to a simmer on top of the stove. Cover the pot and place it in the oven for 2 hours, turning the shanks once while they cook.
• Stir in the orzo and return the lamb shanks to the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until the orzo is cooked and the lamb shanks are very tender. Discard the bay leaves, stir in 2 to 3 tablespoons of white wine, and taste the orzo for seasonings. Serve hot.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
• Heat the olive oil in a heavy, metal roasting pan on the stove over medium-high heat. Toss shanks with flour to coat well; then shake off excess. Sear the shanks in hot oil until well browned on all sides, then remove from pan and set aside.
• Add the leek, celery, carrot, onion, and garlic to the roasting pan. Cook until softened and lightly browned, stirring constantly; about 5 minutes. Season with the bay leaf, peppercorns, thyme and rosemary sprigs. Pour in the red wine and chicken stock, increase heat to high, and bring to a simmer. Season to taste with sea salt, and place the lamb shanks on top of the vegetables.
• Cover the roasting pan tightly with heavy aluminum foil, and place into the preheated oven. Bake gently until the meat is tender and falls off of the bone, 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Remove the bay leaf and herb stems before serving shanks with vegetables and sauce.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Heat oil in a medium Dutch oven until smoking. Season the shanks on both sides with salt and pepper and sear until golden brown on both sides, remove to a plate.
• Add the celery, carrots,onions and garlic and cook until caramelized. Add the port and red wine and reduce by half.
• Add the chicken stock and shanks and bring to a boil, cover and bake in oven for 2 hours or until tender. Remove shanks, strain and reduce liquid by half.
• Orzo Pasta: Heat oil and butter in pan. Add 1/2 of orzo and toast until golden brown. Add onion and remaining orzo and saute for 2 minutes. Heat a pot of water and add to the risotto as if you were making risotto, a little at a time, until the pasta is al dente. Finish with additional butter and a small amount of the braising liquid, add chopped parsley and salt and pepper to taste.
• Slow Roasted Tomatoes: Toss the tomatoes in olive oil, season with salt and pepper and roast in a 200 degree F oven for 4 hours. (Re-hydrated sundried tomatoes will work just as well)
• Roasted Garlic Bulbs: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place water and butter in a roasting pan, add garlic heads, cut-side-down, cover and roast for 1 hour.

Steps:

• For the roasted garlic bulbs:
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Place garlic heads in a small roasting dish and drizzle each half with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Cover with foil and roast for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until soft. Let cool slightly and squeeze the cloves of garlic into a small bowl.
• For the lamb shanks:
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven until smoking. Season the shanks on both sides with salt and pepper and sear until golden brown on both sides, remove to a plate. Remove all but 2 tablespoons of the fat in the pan and add the celery, carrots and onions and cook until caramelized.
• Add the port and red wine and cook until almost completely reduced. Add the chicken stock, thyme, parsley sprigs and shanks and salt and pepper and bring to a boil on the stove, cover, transfer to the oven and bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until the meat is tender.
• Remove shanks to a plate and loosely tent with foil to keep warm. Strain the cooking liquid into a medium saucepan and discard the solids Whisk in the roasted garlic and cook over high heat, whisking occasionally, until reduced by half, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove 1 cup of the liquid to use for the orzo and continue reducing the remaining liquid by half again or until thickened to a glaze. Serve the lamb on top of the orzo and drizzle the shanks with the reduced cooking liquid, oven roasted tomatoes and chopped parsley.
• For the orzo pasta:
• Heat a medium nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Add 1/2 of the orzo and toast until golden brown.
• In a medium saucepan, heat the oil and 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat, add the onion and cook until soft. Add the toasted orzo and the remaining orzo and saute for 1 minute to coat the pasta with the oil/onion mixture. Bring 8 cups of water or chicken stock to a boil in a medium pot (or a combination of chicken stock and water) and add hot water/stock to the orzo as if you were making risotto, 1 cup at a time, stirring constantly until the liquid is absorbed and the pasta is al dente (you may not need to use all of the water). Stir in the cold butter and a 1 cup of the braising liquid, chopped parsley and salt and pepper to taste and cook 1 minute longer.
• For the slow roasted tomatoes:
• Toss the tomatoes in olive oil, season with salt and pepper and roast in a 200 degree F oven for 6 hours.
• Make extra roasted heads to use for garnish on the plate, if desired .

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Season each shank with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven and sear the shanks. Remove once browned. Add the onions, garlic, carrots and celery and cook until lightly golden brown. Return the shanks to the pot. Add the wine, chicken stock and cranberry juice and season with salt and pepper. Bake covered in the oven for 1 1/2 hours, or until the shanks are very tender. Remove the shanks from the pot and strain the sauce mixture into a clean small saucepan. Over medium heat, swirl in the butter, currants and almonds and season with salt and pepper, to taste.;
• Potato-Black Truffle Gratin Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place the cream in a small saucepan with a few shavings of the black truffle and bring to a simmer. Remove and let steep for 10 minutes. Butter a baking dish and place a layer of potatoes in the bottom of the pan. Ladle 1/4 cup of the cream over the potatoes, season with salt and pepper and drizzle with 1 teaspoon of the black truffle oil. Repeat 4 times. Bake the gratin for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked through. Remove from the oven and let rest 10 minutes before cutting into squares. Garnish each square with a shaving of black truffle.