Special Release Montepulciano & Lamb Ragu

Serves: 6 Prep: 12 mins Cook: 3-4 hours Pair: Special Release Montepulciano

Ingredients

4 x Lamb shanks
2 x 400g tins cherry tomatoes
4 cloves garlic
½ red onion

1 carrot
4 anchovies
1 orange – juiced & zested
2 sprigs rosemary
70g tomato paste
150ml Montepulciano or any dry red wine
Olive oil
Salt

Gnocchi
100g crème fraiche
Handful mint leaves

Instructions

1.Season and sear the lamb shanks in a hot pan – approx. 6-8 minutes. Remove and set aside.

2. Sweat the red onion, carrot and garlic for 2 minutes in same pan

3. Add tomato paste and cook for a further 30 seconds

4. Add rosemary, tinned tomatoes, chopped anchovies, orange juice, zest, red wine & salt and bring to a simmer

5. Place shanks in a casserole dish and pour sauce over the top

6. Add baking paper and tightly cover it in tinfoil – cook @ 160c for 3-4 hours

7. Blend the crème fraiche & mint together and store in the fridge until ready

8. Once the lamb is tender then shred from the bone and discard the bones

9.Serve with pasta of choice, we love to serve it with gnocchi

10. Pour yourself a big glass of Montepulciano and live like Italian royalty!

Essential Tools

Tips/Tricks

When slow cooking timing can be a little off, if the lamb can be easily pulled off the bone at around 3 hours you will be right!
This recipe is great made in advance and can also be frozen
If the sauce is too runny after you have shredded the lamb then you can mix in cornflour/water mixture (1tsp:1tbsp)
If you can’t get lamb shanks you could substitute lamb shoulder and cut it into chunks – cooking times will vary

Wines that would also pair perfectly with this recipe include: