Slow-cooked Moroccan Lamb Shanks

Slow-cooked Moroccan Lamb Shanks
Home Cooking



I recently took advantage of the interest-free period at Myer and acquired a slow cooker. The first formal project was lamb shanks. Perhaps it's weird to crave such an obviously Wintery dish in Summer but lamb lovers like shanks all year round.

We didn't really follow a formal recipe but instead chose veggies that seemed appealing. Being the pumpkin addict I am, I opted for half a whole butternut pumpkin. My friend was EXTREMELY skeptical, to say the least and I got accused to no end. Thankfully the end result wasn't over-bearingly pumpkinesque or I would've REALLY copped it.

This recipe is very mish-mashed. We were very experimental with the seasoning (translates to - 'throw in a bit of this and that and cross our fingers').

Slow-cooked Moroccan Lamb Shanks
Serves 5-6

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 4 lamb shanks
• 1/2 pumpkin, seeds removed and chopped
• 2 x white onions, quartered
• 2 x potatoes, cubed
• 2 carrots, sliced
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 2 packets of lamb casserole sachets
• Moroccan seasoning to taste
• 2 tomatoes, quartered
• cayenne pepper to taste
• salt and pepper to season
• flat bread, sour cream and shallots to serve

Procedure:

1. On high heat, seal off the lamb in a bit of olive oil. Once it's colored, add the onion.2. Reduce the heat and add the vegetables (potatoes, carrots, pumpkin). Toss around.
3. Cover with stock and add in the sachets of seasoning + Moroccan seasoning.4. Cook on low heat on a stove, or in a slow-cooker for 8hrs+ (we left it overnight).
5. Once the lamb is tender and falling off the bone, add the tomatoes and peas.
6. Adjust the seasoning/flavoring with the addition of more Moroccan spice, salt and pepper and cayenne pepper.
7. Serve topped with sour cream and shallots to accompany some toasted flat bread, rice or cous cous.


The meat from the lamb shanks turned out fantastically - it was so melty, gelatinous and fall-off-the-bone. We were a bit disappointed with the flavor though. On first eating, it just seemed a bit bland so we amped up the amount of spice.

Close-up lamb shot

The next day, everything had disintegrated a bit more and it was starting to taste like good quality canned soup. Not the most encouraging feedback ever but the results can be enhanced upon.