Recipes

From Pie by Angela Boggiano. Another way of preparing lamb shanks, rather than the usual slow-cooking method.

Serves 6

For the pastry

    400g/13oz rough puff pastry
    Beaten egg, to glaze

For the filling

    50g/2oz plain flour
    6 lamb shanks
    2 tbsp olive oil
    4 red onions, quartered
    8 cloves garlic, peeled
    1 bottle full-bodied red wine
    300ml/½ pint beef stock
    2 tbsp finely chopped rosemary
    3 tbsp redcurrant jelly
    Salt and ground black pepper

Method

Season the flour with a good pinch of salt and plenty of ground black pepper. Dust the shanks in the seasoned flour. Heat the oil in a large saucepan or heavy-based casserole dish and brown the shanks all over. Add any remaining flour, the onions and garlic and stir well. Pour in the wine, stock, rosemary, redcurrant jelly and a good grinding of black pepper.

Bring to the boil, cover, and turn down the heat to cook at a very gentle simmer for about 2 hours until the meat falls off the bone and the sauce is rich and thickened. Remove the bones from the pan, reserving three of them, and flake the meat into small pieces.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas 6.

Fill a 2 litre/3½pint pie dish with the lamb filling. Roll out the pastry to about 3mm thick and about 2.5cm/1in larger than the dish. Cut a 2cm/¾ in strip from the pastry. Brush the rim of the dish with a little water and place the pastry strip around the rim, pressing it down. Sit the 3 reserved lamb bones in the pie filling at intervals along the length of the dish. These will act as pie funnels, releasing the steam when the pie is baking, and will also stop the pastry from sinking into the filling and becoming soggy. Cut 3 slits in the remaining pastry at the same intervals as the lamb bones.

Place the pastry lid over the top and slide it over the bones. Press down the edges of the pastry to seal. Trim off any excess pastry and crimp the edges with a fork or between your thumb and fore-finger. Brush with beaten egg and bake for 30–35 minutes until the pastry is crisp and golden.