Braised Lamb with Mushroom and Sage Ragu
Take that EVOO, and braise the shanks until brown on all sides, lightly season them while cooking with some salt/pepper. In a large pot, sauté (with EVOO)the onions, add mushrooms and garlic. Lightly salt the mushrooms so they give up their juicy goodness. when things start to get stuck to the pan, de-glaze with 1 cup of red wine. Drink the other. now add the beef stock and tomatoes. If you light super chunky, don't mash them up, otherwise run them through a potato rice or similar food mill. Drop in your shanks and make sure they are covered. Add some sage, herbs and basil and let cook for a while...at least 1.5-2.5 hours. This will let the sauce reduce and the meat to loose it's toughness as the muscles break down in the heat and acid. Before that it done, heat up a few quarts of water, bring to boil, salt to hell and make your favorite pasta. Rigatoni's are good as they have lots of little ridges to grab ragu. Plate as a shank, or strip the meat from the bone and reconstitute it back into the ragu. Serve with some cheese and maybe a little fresh basil on top.The Goods....
2 Lamb Shanks
1c Oyster Mushroom
1c Cremini Mushroom
Medium Onion
2c Red Wine (Santa Ynez Valley Regional)
Sprig of Basil
Sprig of Sage
Few cloves of garlic
Large can of Peeled Tomatoes
Can of Beef Stock(Low Sodium!)
Your favorite Italian herbs dried
Your favorite pasta for ragu
Parmigiano Reggiano