One Pots

One thing I LOVE in winter are 'one pots'...so easy, so delicous, so warming!!! And I love my "le Creuset" it is well used and it is the wrong colour, I know, but when I bought my first Creuset pan some 20 years ago - with a wooden handle - which sadly has been changed to some clever plastic now - they did not do the lovey creamy/whitey colour they do now....

The first thing I cooked to start off this year's one pot season was

"Italian lamb shanks and roast vegetables"

Unfortunately, I did not get to take a picture of the actual dish - it got wolfed down before I had a chance to even think 'camera'....We had had guests that weekend and had been out all day...this is THE perfect dish for that sort of thing: easy preparation, verly slow cooking, nothing to worry about - and it comes out tasty and wholesome yet elegant enought to be serve at an informal dinner party.

Here is what you do:

Preaparation time : 30 min max!

Cooking time : 4 hours

Serves: 8

3 red onions, cut into wedges

3 red peppers, cut into large chunks

3 yellow peppers, cut into large chunks

10 ripe plum tomatoes, quartered (I cheated and used tinned)

1 large garlic bulb, halved (don't bother peeling it)

2 bay leaves

2 large sprigs rosemary

2 tbsp oil

8x350g lamb shanks

300ml white wine

3tbsp sun-dried tomato puree (again, I cheated and used ordinary tomato puree)

Prehaet your oven to 190°C , 170 for fan, 375 F or gas mark 5

- Place all the prepared vegetables and herbs in an ovenproof pot or roasting dish.

- In a frying pan, brown the lamb shanks in the oil, remove and pop on top of the vegetables.

- Deglaze the pan with the wine and let bubble for 1 minute, stir in the tomato paste and pour over the meat and veg, along with 200ml of water.

- Season well and cover tightly with foil - if you have a lid, put that on too.

- Roast for 3 hours, turning the meat once halfway through cooking.

- Remove the foil and cook for a further hour, again turning the meat once.

Serve with Dauphinoise potatoes....! The perfect winter dish!!!! Enjoy!

Love

Nicola x

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