Recipe for Lemony Lamb Shanks, Great for a Slow Cooker

If you like lamb, this is a good, easy, one pot dish for a slow cooker or the oven. If you’re going to use a slow cooker, learn from the Accidental Locavore’s mistakes and make sure you have all the ingredients the night before, so you can just pop it in and go in the morning. This is a recipe my mother’s best friend Nancy gave her many years ago. It does call for one pantry staple of the past, Lipton Onion Soup. 2 generous servings:

Lemony Lamb Shanks

• 2 lamb shanks (figure one shank per person)
• Flour, salt, and pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive or other cooking oil
• 1 package Lipton Onion Soup mix (if you want to make your own, here’s a link to a copycat recipe, I haven’t tried it)
• 1 bunch of scallions, green parts thinly sliced (save the whites for something else)
• 1 lemon, zested, and juiced
• 1 cup wine (red or white, your choice)
• 1 cup beef or chicken broth or water
• 4 small Yukon Gold potatoes, quartered
• 1 package frozen artichoke hearts (optional, but good. You can also use fresh baby ones, trimmed, but put them in at the beginning of the cooking process.)

If you’re using the oven, preheat to 250°.

Season the lamb with salt and pepper, and dredge in the flour. Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat, and brown the lamb until browned on all sides. If you’re using the oven, add the rest of the ingredients to the pan EXCEPT the artichoke hearts.  If you’re using a slow cooker, put the lamb and all the other ingredients (except the artichoke hearts) in the slow cooker. The liquid (broth and wine) should come halfway up the shanks. Add more of either if you need.

Cover and cook in the oven for 2 hours, add the artichoke hearts, and finish cooking until the meat is tender and falling off the bone. For the slow cooker, put it on low and leave it. About a half an hour before serving, add the artichoke hearts.

Serve and enjoy!