Lamb shanks cooked in a delicious red wine and cherry sauce until wonderfully tender. A great alternative to the traditional lamb roast.

Cooking Time: 2.5 hours

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

140g Quinoa
2 tbsp Plain flour or gluten free flour
1 tsp Sea salt, freshly fround pepper and cumin powder
4 Lamb shanks, around 350g each
1 tbsp Olive oil or coconut oil
400ml Red wine
600ml Chicken stock
200g Frozen pitted cherries
30g CherryActive® dried cherries
1 tbsp Cornflour

For the Quinoa:

140g Quinoa
175ml Chicken stock
1 Red onion, finely chopped
30g Pistachios & CherryActive® cherries
2 Plum tomatoes, deseeded and diced
Handful of finely chopped parsley
Zest of 1 Lemon, unwaxed
1 tbsp Lemon juice

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 360F/180C/Gas Mark 4. Mix the flour, salt and pepper in a large bowl and add the lamb shanks, dusting each one well in the flour.
2. Pour the oil into a large lidded ovenproof casserole pan over a medium heat and brown the shanks in batches. Pour in the wine, stock and the cherries. Bring everything up to the boil, cover and out in the over for 2 hours, or until the meat feels very tender when poked with a knife. Remove the lid and cook for a further 30 minutes.
3. Make pilaf. Place the quinoa in a pan with the stock. Bring to the boil then simmer over a very low heat for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat an leave the pan lid on for a further 5 minutes. Stir in the nuts, CherryActive® cherries, diced tomatoes. lemon and herbs.
4. Put the cornflour in a bowl and mix in two tbsp of water to form a smooth paste. Remove the lamb shanks to a plate and wrap in foil to keep warm.
5. Pour the sauce through a sieve into a jug to remove the cherries (reserve the cherries). Pour the sauce into a large pan and whisk in the diluted cornflour. Bring to a simmer and continue whisking for 10-15 minutes, or until the sauce thickens. Season.
6. Put the cherries back into the sauce and warm through.
7. To serve, fluff up the quinoa with a fork. Place the quinoa on a platter and top with the lamb shanks. Spoon over the cherry sauce and scatter with fresh parsley to serve.

Per Serving: Calories 850kcal, Protein 53.4g, Carbohydrates 47g,  Sugars 20.2g, Total Fat 42.2g, Saturates 12.2g, Fibre 2.2g, Salt 1g.

Per 100g: Calories 148kcal, Protein 9.3g, Carbohydrates 8.2g,  Sugars 3.5g, Total Fat 7.3g, Saturates 2.1g, Fibre 0.4g, Salt 0.2g.