Generally considered to be one of the most comforting of foods through autumn and
winter, we sadly neglect them through the summer, but paired with ripe summer tomatoes and new season’s garlic they are a total delight with bread and salad.

I find a whole lamb shank all to myself is rather excessive, but men find them just about right. My husband even arms himself with a skewer to extract the tiny amount of bone marrow from it. If you want to make them go further, you can easily remove the meat from the bone once it’s been slow cooked to tender, and distribute it throughout the vegetables.

Ingredients - serves 2

2 lamb shanks
2 tbsp olive oil
6 cloves new season’s garlic, peeled
1 red onion
1/2 bottle red wine
1 large sprig of rosemary
a sprig each of fresh oregano and thyme
1bay leaf
8 ripe tomatoes
1 can chick peas (or half a jar of Mon Jardin chick peas)
salt, pepper

warm, crusty bread
fresh oregano and basil leaves to serve

Method

Preheat the oven to 150° C
Peel the onion and cut into eighths from top to bottom so that the wedges are held together by the root end. Scald the tomatoes and peel then cut into quarters.

Heat the oil in a casserole large enough to accommodate the shanks. Season them with salt and pepper and fry off the shanks to brown on all sides. Remove with a slotted spoon and reserve whilst frying off the onion wedges to brown also. Now add the garlic, wine and tomatoes and give a stir to scrape in any meat residues. Bring to a simmer and return the lamb shanks to the pot together with the herbs. Pop the lid on and slow cook in the oven for 2 1/2 hours, turning the shanks at least once.

Remove the lid and stir in the chick peas (drained and rinsed first) then return to the oven. With the lid off for a final 30 minutes of cooking time the meat will brown and caramelise, and some of the liquid will be cooked off. Remove, check sauce seasoning, and scatter with more fresh, torn herbs before serving in warmed pasta bowls.