Diana Chan’s Lamb Shanks and Bean Ragu with a silky celeriac puree
Winter is upon us and to mark season Diana Chan and Brands Laira have partnered up to create a series of heart-warming recipes that embrace the cold days and long nights. Diana’s Lamb Shanks and Bean Ragu with a silky celeriac puree is a weeknight wonder. The lamb shanks and bean ragu come together all in one-pot and pair perfectly with the intense dark fruits and lifting nutty notes of our Brands Laira 2018 Blockers Cabernet Sauvignon. This minimal effort maximal flavour dish will have you coming back for seconds!
Recipe details:
Serves: 6
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 2 hours and 30 mins
Ingredients:
200g dried cannellini beans
6 lamb shanks, frenched (2.5kgs)
3 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoon plain flour
200g brown onion, diced
150g carrot, diced
150g stalk of celery, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 long red chilli, chopped
¼ cup (80ml) balsamic vinegar
400g canned crushed tomatoes
8 anchovies
2 bay leaves
2 cinnamon quills
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
6 sprigs fresh thyme
½ cup (125ml) red wine
2 cups (500ml) water
30g flat leaf parsley, chopped roughly
Salt and pepper to taste
For the celeriac puree:
1.5kg celeriac, peeled, cut into 2cm cubes
3 cups (750ml) milk
300ml thickened cream
100g shallots, chopped roughly
40g butter
Salt to taste
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Place dried beans in a large bowl, cover with cold water, soak for 8 hours or overnight.
Drain soaked beans, rinse under cold water; drain. Place beans in a medium saucepan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Reduce heat, simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Drain.
Place flour in a mixing bowl and season with salt and pepper. Toss lamb in flour, shake away excess. Heat half the oil in a large casserole dish over medium heat, cook lamb in batches, turning until browned all over. Remove from the dish and set aside.
Heat remaining oil in the dish over medium heat, cook the onion, carrot, celery, garlic and chilli, stirring, for 5 minutes or until onion has softened.
Return the lamb to the dish with beans, vinegar, tomatoes, anchovies, cinnamon, rosemary, wine and the water; bring to the boil. Cover with a lid, cook in the oven for 1 hour, turning shanks halfway through cooking. Uncover, cook a further 1 hour or until meat is almost falling off the bone.
Just before serving, stir chopped parsley through the ragù.
For the celeriac puree. In a large saucepan, combine the celeriac, milk, cream, shallots, butter and salt and bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer very gently, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 35 mins or until the celeriac is tender enough to mash with a spoon.
Working in batches and using a slotted spoon, transfer the celeriac and shallots to a high speed blender and blend until smooth, adding enough of the cooking liquid to form a very thick, creamy and completely smooth puree. Transfer to a serving bowl.
To serve, place a large spoon of mash on the plate and top with a lamb shank, beans and some sauce.