Roast lamb shank with lemon, dill and fennel
Slow cooked alongside plenty of bright Mediterranean flavours, this lamb shank is sure to be meltingly tender.
Ingredients
- 2 lamb shanks
- 40g/1½oz fresh dill, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 lemon, zested and thinly sliced
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, cut into 6
- 2 bay leaf
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh dill
- 1 fennel bulb, cut into 6
- 500ml/18fl oz lamb stock
- 1–2 heads of cavalo nero cabbage, stem removed
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 220C/220C Fan/Gas 7. Slash the leg of lamb by cutting around the bone so that you have rings around ½ cm deep - make sure not to cut through the bone.
In a small bowl mix together the chopped dill, garlic, lemon zest and half the olive oil. Rub this mixture into the slashes. Grind over plenty of salt and black pepper.
Throw the onions, bay, dill and fennel into a roasting tin, then add the lamb shanks and the sliced lemons around.
Add the stock to the tin and roast for 30–40 minutes until coloured.
Cover with kitchen foil and turn the heat down to 170C/150C Fan/Gas 3½, then roast for another 1 hour–1 hour 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, to cook the cavalo nero bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and blanch the cavalo nero for 2–3 minutes then drain.
Heat a sauté pan over medium/high heat and add the remaining oil. Sauté the cavalo nero, onions and fennel for 2–3 minutes then stir in the lemons and dill juices from the roasting pan.
Allow the lamb to rest before slicing. Serve the sautéd cavalo nero and onions to the base of the serving plate, then top with the lamb shanks. Garnish with the cooked lemon slices.
