Lamb Shank in a Chili and Oregano Marinade

Enjoy this flavourful lamb shank recipe on a bed of polenta or mashed potatoes. Then, drizzle the tasty marinade sauce over and garnish with fresh mint leaves or parsley. Sunday lunch here we come!

Flavourful Marinade for the Lamb Shank

This marinade is packed with warm, spicy flavours, blending beautifully with the lamb. The spices that you will need to create this tasteful marinade are:

• Green chillies
• Red chillies
• Smoked paprika
• Oregano
• Cumin seeds
• Cinnamon sticks
• Garlic

If your palette cannot handle the hot spice, feel free to only put one of each chilli in the dish. If this will still be too much, leave the chillies completely out of the marinade. 

Not only will these flavours produce a deliciously fragrant lamb shank, but the spices are also good for you! Cumin seeds and cinnamon, for example, is a natural antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. Cumin may also help with cholesterol and blood sugar issues. All the more reason to enjoy these spices.

Get (pressured) cooking

For the best results, we suggest preparing this lamb shank recipe in a pressure cooker. As a result, the tender meat will be falling off the bone in no time.

After browning the marinaded lamb on both sides, the leftover marinade will be used to deglaze the pan and to create a delicious sauce. Once the red wine and chicken stock are added, let the pressure cooker do its thing for about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

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Lamb Shank in a Chili and Oregano Marinade

Settle those cravings with this delicious lamb shank recipe. Pop it in the pressure cooker and let the fragrant, warm spices do the rest.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Global

Keyword Lamb

Prep Time 1 hour hour

Cook Time 2 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 3 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Irene Muller

Ingredients

• 1 kg lamb shanks (or 4 to 6 small lamb shanks)
• 1 tbsp Olive oil for frying
• 2 large carrots peeled and sliced
• 1 large onion peeled and thickly sliced
• 2 bay leaves
• 500 ml red wine
• 500 ml chicken stock
• 2 Parsley or mint, about a hand full

Marinade

• 2 green chilies deseeded and sliced, to taste
• 2 red chilies deseeded and sliced, to taste
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 cinnamon sticks snapped in half
• 3 garlic cloves peeled, roughly chopped, and crushed
• Olive oil
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

• Mix the chilies (use only one of each if you don’t like hot dishes), smoked paprika, oregano, cumin seeds, cinnamon sticks, garlic, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, season, and combine the mixture.
• Rub the mixture into the lamb so that it is well flavored and marinate for at least 1 hour or more.
• Place the pressure cooker on high heat, add olive oil,  brown the lamb on all sides and set aside, then add the leftover marinade, onions, carrot, and bay leaves, deglaze the pan, scraping up die bits from the bottom.
• Add the red wine and stock, bring it to boil, transfer back the lamb shanks to the pressure cooker, then place the lid on the pressure cooker and let it cook at high pressure for 1 hour 15 minutes.
• When meat is ready and really almost falling off the bone, remove it from the pressure cooker and let it rest, strain the juices from the pressure cooker, pressing the veggies through the strainer, return the sauce to the pot, bring it back to boil, and add 3 tablespoons cornflour mixed with a little water to thicken the sauce.
• Place the meat on a serving plate, serve with polenta or mashed potatoes and the lovely thickened sauce, garnish with torn mint leaves or parsley.