I’m never going to be a perfect food blogger. I really admire the bloggers who post perfect recipes and photos but that’s never going to be me. The food posts on this blog are about the things that I’ve cooked and liked. Sometimes that is food that I’ve cooked a lot, sometimes it’s food like this. I really enjoyed it I will cook it again, hopefully next time I won’t forget what time it went in the oven and as result will get a meal that is a bit more liquid!

Despite that, it was really good and therefore worth bringing to your attention.

It’s an adaption of a Jamie Oliver recipe from The Naked Chef (which is now 13 years old!). I didn’t want to serve it with mash, so decided to add beans to it. The thing to bear in mind is that lamb shanks are hugely forgiving of the mad stuff that you might decide to cook them with so you can play about a bit.

What

Half a teaspoon of coriander seeds

Half a teaspoon of chilli flakes

1 teaspoon dried oregano

2 lamb shanks

1 tablespoon of flour

olive oil

2 carrots

2 red onions

1 clove of garlic chopped

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

170ml/6fl oz red wine

3 anchovy fillets

274g (about 2 cups) cooked flageolet beans

1 400g tin plum tomatoes

How

1) Pre heat the oven to 180°C/350F/Gas Mark 5

2) Crush the coriander seeds, chilli flakes and oregano together and roll the lamb in it, then roll the lamb in the flour.

3) Add the oil to a pan that can also go into the oven and brown the lamb on all sides. Remove from the pan.

4) Add the garlic, carrot, onions and a pinch of salt and cook until they’re soft.

5) Add the balsamic vinegar and let it reduce to a syrup. Pour in the wine and allow it to simmer for 2 to 3 minutes.

6) Add the anchovies and tinned tomatoes, then the beans. Give it all a bit of a stir and then return the lamb to the pan.

7) Put the lid on and cook in the oven for 2 hours.

8) This was the point I was supposed to take it out of the oven, but I didn’t and left it for nearly another hour! So I guess what I’m saying is check it at 2 hours and if you’re happy that it’s done great, if not cook it until it has the amount of liquid you’re happy with!

9) Serve with a green vegetable!