Minted lamb shanks

This recipe comes from a meal I had some 10 years or so ago at a restaurant in Queenstown with a dear friend. The restaurant – long gone now - wouldn’t provide a recipe but I liked the dish so much I started to reconstruct. It took a little trial and error but this is my take on “minted lamb shanks’. This recipe scales up or down easily.

Ingredients

6	Lamb shanks
1 large	Onion, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp	Mint paste
4 Tbsp	Balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp	Soft brown sugar
2 tsp	Cornflour

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to slow/moderate (160˚)
2. Lay the sliced onion over the base of the roasting dish, adding the lamb shanks on top.
3. In a shaker, add mint paste, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar and cornflour, shake well to mix and pour over shanks. Refill shaker with cold water, shake to clean and add to pan. Add extra water to ensure shanks are covered to half their depth in the pan.
4. Closely cover roasting dish and bake for 1 hour. Remove from oven, turn shanks and stir sauce. Return to oven, still covered, and cook for another 45 mins or until meat begins to separate from the bones – time will depend on oven and the number of shanks being cooked.
5. Remove shanks to a pre-warmed serving dish, cover with foil and rest in a warm place. Reduce cooking sauce over a moderate heat until thickened, pour over shanks and serve.