Braised lamb shanks

• By Mark Camilleri

Bernard Muscat's wine recommendation: a powerful red wine high in tannins to cut through the strong meat – Bodegas Parxet Tionio Crianza (2003) from Ribera del Duero in Spain, made from the Tempranillo grape, from Carnaby Wines.

For 6 people, you will need:

Six lamb shanks, three carrots (scraped and chopped), three onions (peeled and chopped), five celery stalks (chopped), seven cloves of garlic (peeled and chopped), 75g of plain flour, one and a half leeks (kurrat – peeled and chopped), some fresh rosemary, some fresh thyme, some fresh parsley, one and a half teaspoonfuls of fennel seeds, 75g of butter, 80g of dried porcini mushrooms, two cupfuls of lamb stock, one and a half cupfuls of red wine, salt and pepper.

Preheat the oven to gas mark 4/180C. Soften the porcini mushrooms by soaking them in hot water for 15 to 20 minutes, straining off the water and keeping it aside. Heat up a heavy pan, add a tablespoonful of olive oil and brown the seasoned lamb shanks for about 10 minutes, removing them from the pan. Sauté the onions, carrots, leeks, celery and garlic, in the same pan, until they are soft and slightly browned. Remove them from the pan and set them aside.

Put the butter into the pan, and when it melts, add the flour, stirring all the while to make a roux. Put in some of the porcini water and the stock, stirring and simmering, reducing it to make a sauce. Into this, pour the wine; then put in the lamb, vegetables, fennel seeds, porcini and fresh herbs. Bring the pan to the boil. Turn the heat right down and leave it to simmer for three to three-and-a-half hours, until the meat is very tender and comes off the bone. Check the pan regularly and skim off any impurities like grey fat bubbling to the surface. Serve this with plain boiled rice, mashed potatoes or roast potatoes.