Lamb shanks make a great meal for one – perfectly sized. This dish is incredibly simple and can easily be multiplied to serve more. Just make sure you’ve got the hours as the key to the success of this dish is the unctuous meat falling off the bone at the end. Finally, be careful with the lemon – it can easily overpower the flavour of the meat.
Serves 2
2×250g lamb shanks, French-trimmed (ask your butcher to do this)
4 cloves garlic, peeled
6 large green olives, flesh cut off stones in 3 wide slices
4 very thin slices of lemon
½ teaspoon dried Greek oregano
salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste,
kitchen twine
Preheat oven to 150°C. Place 2×30 cm strips of baking paper on a work surface, overlapping at the centre at right angles to form a cross. Place one lamb shank in the centre of the paper cross and scatter over 2 cloves of garlic, 9 slices of olive, 2 slices of lemon, ¼ teaspoon oregano, salt and pepper. Gather up sides of paper to form a parcel, leaving bone exposed, then tie securely with twine. Repeat with second lamb shank. Place shanks in roasting tin and roast for at least 3 hours, or until meat is falling off the bone.
When ready, untie lamb shanks, but leave the paper around them. Place shanks on a serving platter. This dish is delicious served with mashed potato and zucchini.
It has taken me a while to find a recipe in Wild Weed Pie that I thought would be suitable for Recipes for 2. It’s not because the book doesn’t have great recipes – they are just a little more special occasion than every day. They also tend to be in feast proportions rather than made for two. That said, if you entertain often and are looking for a culinary challenge this book is for you. As the title suggests there is a fabulous recipe for wild weed pie accompanied by a romantic tale of the origins of the dish in Kryitsis’s home in Northern Greece.