BIG WINTER FOOD Lamb Shank Ragu + Rigatoni

Grandpa the Ghillie: Trout fishing with Grandpa in the Kamberg. 

The Midlands is a great place to visit during Winter (read this  little punt here which says it all) as we actually 'do' Winter unlike the rest of the country which sits around shivering in their shorts and slops feigning complete surprise that it's freezing cold. Here, since we know it gets cold, we build our houses with multiple fireplaces, weave mohair blankets, eat Big Winter Foods and drink lots of local craft beer and red wine. It's awesome.

We've recently had a little mini-flurry of visitors during the school holidays and so I brought out my Big Gun Winter recipes to spread a little bit of Midland's love. Nothing beats a slow roasted lamb shank to warm the cockles of your heart and my favourite way to cook lamb for a crowd is to make a deep rich ragu and serve it with rigatoni, the Italian way. It also means that four fat shanks can feed about 12 people which was what we managed last week for an impromptu birthday party.

JML

Slow Roasted Lamb Shank Ragu with Rigatoni

To serve a medium size group of friends

4 large grass fed lamb shanks

4 fat cloves of garlic, chopped

1 bunch celery, chopped

2 large red onions, chopped

2 large carrots, chopped

1 small tin tomato paste

1 litre stock

1 bottle semi-plonk red wine

1 tin anchovies (the secret ingredient)

Olive oil, big slug

Marjoram or origanum, a chopped handful

Salt + Pepper

2 big bags of rigatoni pasta

For the Gremolata:

Big chunk of pecorino or parmesan cheese, grated

Bunch of parsely, finely chopped

Zest of 2 large lemons

Lots of grated black pepper 

Method:

1. In a large casserole dish, brown the shanks in the olive oil and set aside
2. In the same pan, fry the onion, celery, garlic and carrots until translucent and put lamb back
3. Pour over the stock, tomato paste and wine
4. Season very well and add the herbs and anchovies
5. Put in a slow oven (160 C) for about 6 hours, stirring occasionally. Pour in some more wine if it needs more liquid
6. About 1 hour before serving, take the meat off the bone, return meat to the ragu and then back into the oven
7. At the same time, par cook the rigatoni in lots of salted boiling water for about 5 minutes
8. Put the rigatoni in with the lamb ragu and back into the oven for another 15 minutes or so. The rigatoni needs to partially cook in the ragu.
9. Serve bounteously straight out of the casserole dish with the gremolata on the side, a green salad and lots of good chewy ciabatta bread.