Lamb Shanks with Lentils

This isn't the prettiest dish, but it is so tasty and rich that it could be served to guests. Sometimes I serve it as shown in the photo, with the whole shank on the plate. But usually I remove the bones after cooking, shred the lamb, then mix in brown rice and stir it all together. If prepared this way, you can get 6 servings from this recipe. Serve with a veggie side and a green salad for a complete meal.

I adapted this recipe to be cooked in a crockpot and made some changes for our allergies. The original recipe came from The Rest of the Best and More.

• 3 lamb shanks
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper to season
  
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 2 cups beef broth
• 2 cups red wine
• 1/2 of a 5 1/2 oz can tomato paste (about 1/4 cup)
  
• 2 small garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp molasses
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 Tbsp dried rosemary
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
  
• 1 1/4 cup mixed brown and green lentils, thoroughly rinsed
  

1. Heat oil in a large frypan over medium-high heat. Add shanks to frypan and season with salt and pepper. Cook 2 minutes per side, turning to get all sides browned. Add browned shanks to crockpot (mine is the 5 quart size).
2. Add onions to frypan and fry 4-5 minutes, then add garlic and cook 1 minute more. Scrape onions into crockpot. Add beef broth, wine, tomato paste, molasses, sugar, vinegar, rosemary, salt, and pepper to frypan. Stir to combine. Heat to boiling. Add lentils and stir. Pour mixture over shanks and onion in the crockpot.
   
3. Cover and cook over low heat 8 hours.

I'm looking forward to more crockpot dinners now that the weather has turned cold and we have been having blustery days. What crockpot meals are you looking forward to this season?