This recipe is best when cooked sous-vide, but it is also great to prepare in the oven. The two sauces are what take it over the top. Even if you don’t like lamb or you don’t cook sous-vide this post is worth reading, as the delicious yogurt sauce will also work with other dishes. It paired as well with the lamb as it did with the roasted eggplant.

Lamb shanks are amazing when cooked sous-vide for 48 hours at 62ºC/144ºF. They are pink, juicy, and very tender. This recipe will work when cooked in the oven, but the shanks will have a traditional braised texture. (Instructions for cooking in the oven are included in the recipe.) This time around, I remembered to take a photo of the inside so you can see for yourself how pink it is. After preparing lamb shanks plain with just a bit of thyme as well as in a delicious Italian sauce and served with asparagus, I thought it would be nice to create something completely different. First I marinated and then cooked the lamb in a sauce made with various dried chile peppers (a kind gift from REMCooks, by now replenished by my own purchases), and then I served it with roasted eggplant, a delicious yogurt sauce, and rice. I had some cherry tomatoes that I roasted along with the eggplant. They looked nice on the rice, but didn’t really add anything to the rest of the dish. The combination of the earthy peppers with just a tiny bit of heat and smokiness and the freshness of the yogurt sauce was marvelous. If you like more heat, use hotter types of chiles such as New Mexico Extra Hot or Pasilla Negro. Although of course this dish requires some planning because of the 48-hour cooking time, it is not a lot of work at all and relatively easy to make. Here’s what I did — please note that not all of the ingredients are shown in the ingredient shots as I was making this up along the way…

Ingredients

For 2 servings

For the lamb

2 lamb shanks

125 ml (1/2 cup) Greek yogurt

1 ancho chile

1 guajillo chile

1 New Mexico hot chile

1 chipotle

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp honey

1/2 tsp salt

some fresh cilantro

juice of 1/2 lime

For the eggplant

1 eggplant

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

salt

For the yogurt sauce

125 ml (1/2 cup) Greek yogurt

1 tsp ground fenugreek seeds

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 clove garlic

1 Tbsp minced fresh cilantro

1 tsp honey

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

For serving

white rice

cherry tomatoes (optional)

Preparation

Soak the chiles in hot water for about 10 minutes.

Remove the seeds and stems from the chiles.

Combine the chiles in the blender with the yogurt, cilantro, oregano, cumin, salt, and honey. Process until smooth.

Vacuum seal the lamb shanks with the yogurt mixture. Marinate for 24 hours in the refrigerator.

After marinating, cook sous-vide for 48 hours at 62ºC/144ºF. Alternatively, you could cook them in the oven. 2 1/2 hours at 200ºC/400ºF should do the trick, or longer at a lower temperature. Put them in an oven-proof dish with the marinade, and baste with the marinade now and then.

About 45 minutes before you would like to serve, preheat the oven to 225ºC/450ºF. Cut the eggplant into cubes (peeling the eggplant first is optional). Toss the eggplant with the olive oil. Arrange the eggplant on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Roast for about half an hour at 225ºC/450ºF until the eggplant is cooked and slightly golden. Add the cherry tomatoes, if using, for the last 15 minutes or so.

Meanwhile, prepare the yogurt sauce. Put the yogurt in a bowl. Crush the garlic and add it to the yogurt.

Add the other ingredients for the yogurt sauce.

Stir to mix. Taste and adjust the sauce to your liking by adding more of any of the ingredients.

Take the lamb out of the sous-vide about 10 minutes before the eggplant is done.

Set the lamb shanks aside and put the sauce in a non-stick pan. Bring it to a boil and reduce it over medium heat until it is no longer watery.

Add a bit of freshly squeezed lime juice to freshen up the sauce.

Coat the lamb shanks with the sauce and keep them warm over low heat until the eggplant is done.

Serve the lamb with the chile sauce, the eggplant, rice, and yogurt sauce.

Flashback

Cantucci or cantuccini are officially called biscotti di Prato. Whatever you call them, the combination of cantuccini with vin santo is one of the most famous and most delicious desserts from Tuscany. Homemade cantuccini are much better than store-bought, as they are much more crunchy and brittle without breaking your teeth on them (as is often the case with store-bought).