slow cooker lamb shanks with tomato and capers

If this blog had a mission statement it would be helping families make tasty dinners and memories around the dinner table (or something like that).

This recipe meets all the criteria – it’s easy to make, terrifically tasty and needs little input during the homework/bath time/witching hour .

My crew love lamb shanks. They can be a bit pricey, so I keep an eye out for when they’re on special and freeze them to cook on evenings I think we’ll need warming from the inside. The key to great lamb shanks is cooking them low and slow, so the connective tissue has a chance to soften and the meat falls off the bone.

I fell out of love with my slow cooker when I became a stay at home mum, but we’re rekindled the romance recently. There’s seriously nothing better than being able to roll a warming dinner into the shivering girls soon after we walk through the door from swimming lessons.

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slow cooker lamb shanks with tomato and capers

Prep 13 mins

Cook 4 hours

Total 4 hours, 13 mins

Author Amanda Smyth | Cooker and a Looker

Yield 6 serves

Capers and gremolata give these slow cooker lamb shanks a fresh lift. Best of all they're easy to make and terrifically tasty.

Ingredients

for the lamb shanks

6 lamb shanks

3 tbs plain flour

salt and pepper to season

olive oil for browning

1 onion

1 carrot

2 cloves garlic

500 ml chicken stock

1200 g tinned chopped tomatoes (3 x 400g tins)

150 g capers

for the gremolata

1/2 bunch parsley

zest of half a lemon

1 clove garlic

2 anchovies

Instructions

Add the flour to a plastic bag, season with salt and pepper, then add the shanks one at a time, shaking to coat the shank in flour.

Heat some olive oil in a large fry pan and brown the shanks on each side. Don't rush this step - browning the lamb shanks adds lots of flavour to the dish. Once browned, add the shanks to a 6L crockpot.

Dice the carrot and the onion. Mince the garlic. Add the carrot, onion, garlic, chicken stock and tomatoes to the shanks in the crockpot and cook on high for three hours.

After three hours, stir the shanks, add the drained capers and cook on low for a further hour.

Taste, season and serve on cheesy polenta topped with fresh gremolata.

for the gremolata

Combine parsley, lemon zest, garlic and anchovies in a food processor and blitz until finely chopped. Sprinkle on top of lamb shanks before serving.

Courses Dinner

Cuisine Italian

This is the first post using the my new recipe layout. Using the buttons you can adjust quantities, switch from metric to imperial and print your custom recipe. In keeping with my imaginary mission statement, I’m hoping it will make adapting my recipes to suit your family even easier. If you have any feedback on the new format, I’d love to hear it.

does your crew love lamb shanks?
do you use your slow cooker often?