Braised lamb shanks with white beans

[pjthompson]

Yep, it's a keeper. This is a Williams-Sonoma recipe, but it's very similar to a Lamb Shanks Provençale I used to make. It was quite delicious on a cold, rainy day—the kind of meal where you throw stuff in a pot and let it cook half the day, and the house smells wonderful. It works well with the measurements reduced by thirds or two-thirds. And when I cook, more garlic and wine always manage to fall into the pot. Don't know how that happens...

Braised Lamb Shanks with White Beans

"You can substitute the same amount of veal shanks if you like."

1-1/2 cups dried small white, white kidney, or cannellini beans
2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
6 lamb shanks, each 1/2 to 3/4 lb.
1 yellow onion, finely diced
1 celery stalk, finely diced
2 large carrots, peeled and finely diced
6 garlic cloves, minced
1-1/2 cups dry red wine such as Côtes-du-Rhône, Cabernet Sauvignon, or Chianti
1-1/2 cups chicken broth
1-1/2 cups peeled, seeded and chopped tomatoes (fresh or canned)
3 Tbs. tomato paste
1 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper to taste

Pick over the beans and discard any misshapen beans and stones. Rinse the beans, place in a bowl and add water to cover generously. Let stand for about 3 hours.

Drain the beans and place in a saucepan with water to cover by 2 inches. Place over medium-high heat and bring to boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, until nearly tender, 45 to 60 minutes. Drain well.

Meanwhile, in a deep, heavy stock pot over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the lamb shanks and brown on all sides, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer the shanks to a plate. Add the onion, celery and carrots to the pan and sauté over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the wine, broth, tomatoes, tomato paste, thyme, bay leaf and lamb shanks. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer until the shanks can be easily pierced with a skewer, 1-1/2 to 2 hours.

Add the beans, stir well, cover and simmer gentle until lamb begins to fall from the bone and the beans are tender, about 30 minutes more. Season with salt and pepper. Remove bay leaf and discard.

Comments

[kmkibble75.livejournal.com]

Totally not something I could concievably make... but I memoried it anyway. 'Cause you never know.

[pjthompson]

Dude, I'm tellin' ya, it's so easy--as long as you've got a big pot. Thanks for the memories. :-)

[kmkibble75.livejournal.com]

do you eat all of the veggies and stuff too, or is it just thrown in for flavoring?

[pjthompson]

Yeah, you eat it all. It's like a tomatoey bean soup with this big hunk of lamb shank thrown in. Especially good with French bread, a very filling.

[kmkibble75.livejournal.com]

It's like a tomatoey bean soup with this big hunk of lamb shank thrown in.

Interesting... I can honestly say I've never had anything like that. (doesn't say much for my culinary experience)

[pjthompson]

French country food, I think.

[pjthompson]

And I'm thinking you could even use canned white beans if you didn't want to soak them. The reason you soak them is so they don't get mushy, but if you put the canned beans in just in the last 30 minutes, it might be okay. If you have time to do it the long way, that's the way to go, but if not...

[pjthompson]

And if you do use canned beans, you'll want more than 1-1/2 cups, of course. I made 4 lamb shanks, so I reduced this by a third. After soaking and cooking 1 cup of dried beans I had maybe 3 cups of beans to add to the pot.

[frigg.livejournal.com]

Sounds good. Now you've made me crave lamb and it's only 8:55 in the morning here! :)

[pjthompson]

Ha! Lamb for breakfast? Bwoogity.