Slow Cooker Red Wine Lamb Shanks: The Ultimate Winter Comfort Food!

Let these luscious red wine lamb shanks get you through winter. These lamb shanks are made in the slow cooker with a rich wine gravy that thickens while it cooks so that at the end of the day you'll have wonderfully rich lamb shanks that fall off the bone. This is a classic lamb recipe that everyone will love. This is a pushy recipe Dear Reader.

I love these red wine lamb shanks so much because they truly just fall off the bone and melt in the mouth and I just love that this makes a lot of delicious gravy. The gravy is so good that when we had some leftover, my brother in law took a slice of bread and covered it in the gravy and ate it so that not a drop went to waste! I serve these lamb shanks with a sweet potato and ginger mash and I really recommend that you to give this combination a try. While potato mash is great, the sweetness of a sweet potato mash with ginger just brings out the best of the lamb shanks. I had a combination like this in New Zealand where they have beautiful lamb and lots of sweet potato (which they call kumera or kumara). I promise I'll share the recipe for this amazing mash in a couple of days (I'm just working on it now!).

Tips For Making Red Wine Lamb Shanks

1 - Stovetop Lamb Shanks: This recipe is for slow cookers or crockpots or instant pots but you can also do this on the stovetop in a large pot and it is faster than in a slow cooker. For a stovetop just simmer the lamb shanks for 2 hours or until soft. Just omit the cornstarch in step 1 and just add the cornflour mixed with 2 tablespoons of water right at the end once you skim the fat off the top.

2 - Pressure Cooker Lamb Shanks: You can also make this recipe in the pressure cooker if you really don't have a lot of time. Also omit the cornstarch in step 1. Cook the lamb shanks on high pressure for 30 minutes and just add the cornflour mixed with 2 tablespoons of water right at the end once you skim the fat off the top.

3 - If you don't want to use red wine you can replace the quantity with more beef stock. Alternatively you can also replace it with cranberry juice.

4 - I like making this recipe a day or two ahead of time and then placing it in the fridge in the pot. Then I skim the fat off the top and place it back onto the slow cooker to heat back up again. I then switch it to "keep warm" and people can just help themselves while it is hot. Making it ahead also helps develop the flavours.

I made these lamb shanks for Mr NQN's joint birthday party with his brother Manu this past weekend with the Elliotts. We decided to have it at our house because I couldn't find a pub that a) was close to a train station for his mother b) was less than $20 a head for his brother c) had lots of vegan food on the menu d) was dog friendly and e) one that I hadn't written about before (I'm trying to make a whole dog friendly pub section because I know people look for that). So we figured that having everyone at our house would probably work out best. Mr NQN's aunt and uncle Sisko and Seppo (who live on the Central Coast) told us a couple of days before that they would also be coming and their son Sam RSVP'd that morning.

We had intended to have everyone sit inside but it was too beautiful a day to sit inside as bright sunlight bathed the garden. Mr NQN got to work cleaning up our garden and I heated up these lamb shanks and the ginger sweet potato mash. I had made the lamb shanks in the slow cooker a couple of days before and was just warming them through, back in the slow cooker and it was perfect because once heated, I switched them to the "keep warm" setting. Because there were more meat eaters than I was expecting I stripped the lamb off the bone to make it easier to share. I had also made some spaghetti pie, some raita and two cakes (a version of this vanilla slice and this pear upside down cake).

It was so nice to sit in the sunshine and like all Elliott gatherings things can be chaotic but fun. Sisko made a huge tray of Karelian rice pies and egg butter (which would have taken her so long to make). Mr NQN received a big fruit platter for his birthday which he requested. Mr NQN's mother Tuulikki brought out her personal present for him: a gorgeous painting of Teddy and Milo. In the painting I think Teddy is eating a moon cookie and touching the sun while Milo has a face cookie. Well that's what I thought. Tuulikki later explained it to me saying, "It represents the forces and playground and toys in Teddy’s and Milo’s life: ~ they live on Earth so Milo is holding Mother Earth (Gaia who is the Greek Goddess of Mother Earth). Teddy is holding Moon (in Steiner stories often Sister Moon) and Sun (Steiner stories often Father Sun). Or simply Teddy and Milo live on Earth and Day with sun and Night with moon and stars influence their life."

Mr NQN's father Roger took great pains to explain how to garden to me even though I don't garden at all but when I pointed him towards Mr NQN who is the gardener he didn't give him any tips. Roger has always fantasised about having a cult of women and I think he defaults to mansplaining things to women. Then he decided to show his prowess on Mr NQN's rowing machine. It was weird but also very Elliott. And the only thing I'd change is perhaps doubling this quantity of lamb shanks so that everyone would get 1 shank each!

So tell me Dear Reader, do you like entertaining at home or would you rather go out? And do you use a slow cooker or crock pot much?

Red Wine Lamb Shanks Slow Cooker Crock Pot

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time: 20 minute

Cooking time: 6-8 hours (or 2 hours on stovetop)

Serves: 4 people

• 2 tablespoons oil
• Salt and pepper for seasoning
• 4x Lamb Shanks (around 350g-400g/12.3-14oz each)
• 1 large onion (around 150g/5ozs)
• 6 cloves garlic, peeled and diced
• 2 tablespoons cornflour/fine cornstarch
• 1 cup/250ml/8.8flozs red wine (I used a Pinot Noir)
• 650ml/1.4pints beef stock
• 4 carrots (around 500g/1.1lbs), cut into bite size rounds
• 400g/14oz tin diced tomatoes
• 4-5 tablespoons maple syrup (can also use brown sugar or honey)
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 3 sprigs rosemary
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 teaspoons Vegemite (optional) can also use Marmite, Promite just for umami depth of flavour

Step 1 - Place a large, deep saucepan on medium high heat and add 1 tablespoon of oil. Season the lamb shanks with salt and pepper and then brown the lamb shanks on both sides and then set aside (it will take around 5 minutes per side so 10 minutes total). In the same pan reduce the heat to medium add the other tablespoon of oil and sauté the onion until soft and fragrant. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the cornflour and stir into the onion mixture. Add the red wine and beef stock and heat and stir, until it starts to thicken. Take off the heat.

Step 2 - Add the red wine and onion mixture to the slow cooker along with the carrots, diced tomatoes, maple syrup, tomato paste, rosemary, bay leaves and Vegemite. Stir to combine and then submerge the lamb shanks in this mixture. Set to high for 6 hours until the meat is very soft or on low for 8 hours. Test for seasoning and add salt if needed and pepper. Skim the fat off the top. Serve with sweet potato and ginger mash.