Balsamic Braised Lamb Shank with Canellini Beans, Orange Gremolata and Parmesan Polenta.

Ingredients:

Serves 4:

4 Lamb shanks, about 400g in weight

50g Diced, smoked pancetta

1 Carrot, finely diced

5 Small shallots, peeled and halved

1 Stick of celery, finely diced

2 Cloves of garlic, sliced

2 Sprigs of rosemary

100ml Balsamic vinegar

150ml Red wine

400ml Chicken stock

4 Anchovy fillets, chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

400g Cooked Cannellini beans

For the Gremolata:

4 tblsp Chopped parsley

2 tblsp Olive oil

1 Clove of garlic (as fresh as possible)

Zest of one orange

Juice of half an orange

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the Polenta:

100g Polenta

450ml Hot chicken stock

40g Butter

60g Grated Parmesan

Method:

For the lamb shanks:

Heat a heavy bottomed sauce pan and add a table spoon of olive oil. Brown the lamb shanks all over, remove from the pan and set aside.
Add the shallots, pancetta, carrots, celery, garlic and anchovies to the pan and brown on a medium heat.
Add the balsamic and red wine, bring to the boil and reduce by half.
Add the chicken stock and stir, season with a little salt and black pepper.
Return the shanks to the pan, put the lid on and put in the oven for 2 hours or until the meat is tender and just loose from the bone. Turn the shanks over in the pan half way through cooking.

For the gremolata:

Using a pestle and mortar grind up the garlic with a little salt to a smooth paste.
Add the olive oil, orange zest, juice, parsley and salt and pepper. Mix together and set aside.

For the polenta:

Heat the chicken stock in a pan to just boiling, add the polenta and reduce the heat.
Whisk constantly for 3 minutes.
Add the salt and pepper, butter and parmesan and remove from the heat, serve immediately.

To Finish:

Carefully remove the lamb shanks from the pan, set aside and cover to keep warm.
Pour the cooking liquid through a sieve, reserving the liquid in another saucepan and discarding the vegetables, pancetta and anchovies.
Add the canellini beans to the liquid and bring to the boil.
Pour the canellini gravy mix back over the lamb shanks and serve, drizzling the gremolata over the top.