Spice-Braised Lamb Shanks with Apricots
Spice-Braised Lamb Shanks with Apricots
Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 3 hours hours
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: comfort
Servings: 6 people
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 6 large lamb shanks sawed crosswise by the butcher into thirds
- 2 cups yellow onion chopped
- 1½ cups carrot chopped
- 8 garlic cloves peeled and finely chopped
- 1 tbsp ground cumin preferably from toasted seeds
- 10 green cardamom pods lightly crushed with any seeds that come free
- 1 3-inch piece cinnamon stick
- ¾ tsp dried thyme crumbled
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp ground coriander
- ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
- ¼ tsp Hungarian hot paprika
- 1 bay leaf
- 2½ cups + 1 Tbsp chicken stock or reduced-sodium chicken broth
- ¾ cup red wine such as Merlot
- ¾ cup canned crushed tomatoes with added puree
- salt
- 8 ounces dried apricots cut in half lengthwise
- ½ cup pine nuts toasted
- ½ cup mint roughly chopped
Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350°F
Set a large, heavy 5 ½-quart ovenproof pan (such as a Dutch oven or a covered flameproof casserole) over medium high heat. Add 1 ½-tablespoons of the oil. When it is hot, working in 3or 4 batches, cook the lamb shank pieces, turning them occasionally, until they are lightly and evenly browned, about 10 minutes per batch. With a slotted spoon, transfer the browned shanks to a bowl. Add an additional ½ tablespoon oil to the pan if needed to prevent sticking.
Pour off the oil from the pan but do not clean it. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil and set the pan over low heat. Stir in the onion, carrot, garlic, cumin, cardamom, cinnamon stick, thyme, ginger, coriander, black pepper, cayenne, paprika and bay leaf. Cover and cook, stirring once or twice and scraping the bottom of the pan, for 10 minutes. Return the lamb to the pan. Add the 2 ½ cups stock, wine, tomatoes and ½ teaspoon salt. Bring to a simmer, stirring once or twice. Cover the pan, set it in the oven and bake for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Uncover the pan, stir in the apricots, and continue to cook, stirring once or twice, until the lamb is tender and beginning to fall from the bones, about 1 hour more.
Remove from the oven, season to taste, and stir in half the pine nuts and half the mint. Use the last ¼ cup each of the pine nuts and mint to garnish
Note: Other dried fruits, such as dried figs or golden raisins, can be substituted for the dried apricots.