Braised lamb shanks with carrot, tomatoes and quince

Lamb shanks are called “souris d’agneau” in French and are the top end of the leg, which is often sold in slices at the butcher’s. They give nice one-person portions and look pretty with the bone sticking upwards. It takes a long time of cooking and can be prepared in advance. Many restaurants do that in France so that they can serve the dish quickly the following day.

I had leftover quince paste in the fridge and added that for a sweet tone.

Ingredients (for two)

• 2 lamb shanks
• 3 carrots
• A tin of diced tomatoes
• 8 unpeeled gloves of garlic
• A glass of white wine
• Herbs
• A slice of quince paste.

Steps

1. Brown the shanks in a pan with butter
2. Dice the carrots
3. Add carrots and garlic to the pan, add the wine and the tomatoes.
4. Put in an oven at 150 °C, without the lid, for some two hours. Test with a fork for tenderness and add water or stock when the content of the pan becomes too dry.
5. Towards the end, add the quince paste and let it melt into the sauce.
6. Take the pan out of the oven, remove the shanks from the pan and let them rest under aluminium foil.
7. Put the pan back on the heat and reduce the sauce. Add some dried herbes de Provence.
8. Sprinkle the shanks with pepper and salt and present them surrounded by sauce.