And now for something completely different.
Well sort of, this is like a tomato/lamb version of hoppin john, with different beans and no rice. Ok maybe’s its completely different.
Ingredients
- Two lamb foreshanks (~3 lbs total, bone in)
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 smallish yellow onion diced
- 1 large yellow onion peeled and cut in two halves
- 1 large carrot diced
- 8 cloves garlic minced and into two piles: 3/4ths and 1/4th
- Leaves of rosemary from 4-8 sprigs
- 1/2 lb Cannellini beans
- Bouquet garni of thyme, parsley, bay
- 1 28oz can crushed tomato
- 2 tbs olive oil
- Salt + Pepper
Timing
Ooh a new section! It’s important to have everything come together at the same time. Because I think its better to cook the beans and lamb separately (the lamb throws off a lot of fat) you need to time it.
- Overnight soak beans
- Sear lamb shanks – 20-30 mins
- Braise lamb shanks – 2 hours
- 1.5 hour in to braise start cooking beans
- Evac lamb – let rest for 20 mins
- Shred lamb cook w/ tomato sauce 15 minutes
All told this is going to take ~3 hours from the time your Lamb hits the pan. 3.5 total.
Directions
- Soak beans overnight in 2qts water spiked with 2 tbs of kosher salt
- Preheat oven to 350
- Trim lamb shanks, season with salt and pepper
- In dutch oven sear all sides on high, then evac
- Turn dutch oven down to medium low – wait a few minutes for it to cool
- Cook the diced onion and carrots until soft.
- Add the large pile of garlic and rosemary, cook for a minute or so more.
- Return lamb to dutch oven
- Pour in wine, pour in stock until liquid is 2/3rds of the way up the lamb
- Bring to a boil, cover, throw in oven.
- Turn shanks after 1 hour.
- Cook the beans in their soaking liquid along with bouquet garni and one of the onion halves. Should take an hour. Add water/stock as needed
- When lamb is fall off the bone tender, evac.
- There is delicious liquid in the bottom of the dutch oven, covered by fat. Use all your thanksgiving skills (aka a gravy separator or old fashioned skimming) to get it out. You’ll want to save a cup or so
- While the lamb is resting – make the tomato sauce
- In a small pan, cook the garlic in the olive oil for a couple minutes
- Add the tomato and the other half onion
- Bring to temp on high, reduce to low
- Shred the lamb off the bone – add to the tomato sauce
- Drain the beans – toss the onion and the bouquet.
- Return beans to the pan and mix (gently) in the delicious braising liquid you saved.
- Plate – beans on bottom, tomato lamb sauce on top. If you are feeling fancy garnish with a sprig of rosemary.
Categories: Mains