Oooh I had a lovely Sunday lunch last weekend. Can you guess what it was?? I shopped ethically and sourced some fresh, local lamb to make this delicious lamb shank recipe with sticky redcurrant gravy – here’s how to make it yourself…
I’ve been using my pressure cooker a lot this year. Whether I’m cooking up a classic bolognese, warming stew or a whole chicken for my roast dinner, it’s all been going into the pressure cooker. And now lamb is my new pressure cooker favourite. I never really had the patience to cook lamb in the oven, so it’s not really been on the menu for us before. But now it’s so easy and, seeing as I’ve found a local butcher, it’s an ethical choice too.
Like many people, I’m taking more of an interest in the provenance of my food. If I’m going to eat meat, it might as well be ethically sourced and local produce. That way, I’m supporting the farmers in my area, and animals that have been reared in the UK are likely to have benefited from the higher welfare standards of this country.
Similarly, choosing fruit and vegetables that have been grown locally is one of the easiest ways to eat ethically and reduce your food waste. Let’s face it – fresh, seasonal veggies always taste the most delicious! I’ve been reading some foodie bloggers’ posts about making ethically sourced -and downright delicious – feasts with The Foodie Guide and it inspired me to visit my local farm shops and find out what’s available.
Another step towards ethical eating is cutting down my meat intake to just few meals each week, rather than having meat in every single dish. That’s not a difficult thing for me to do – I sometimes look at my lunch and realise that I’m having a vegan meal without even realising it! Even so, I do love a good Sunday roast, so locally produced meat is very much on the menu for that.
Anyway, here’s my ideal Sunday dinner – pressure cooker lamb shanks with redcurrant and rosemary gravy.
INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 large diced onion, 4 sliced garlic cloves, 2 lamb shanks, half a small jar of redcurrant jelly, 3 sprigs of rosemary, 1 tablespoon wholegrain mustard, 1 litre beef stock. 
METHOD
- Set the pressure cooker to the stew setting and add a little oil into the bowl. Brown the lamb shanks on all sides and then set aside.
- Saute the onions, garlic and fresh rosemary in the pressure cooker bowl until softened and golden.
- Meanwhile, stir the redcurrant jelly and mustard into the hot beef stock.
- Add the lamb shanks back into the bowl and pour over the gravy mixture.
- Set the pressure cooker to ‘meat’ setting for 45 minutes.
- Once the lamb is soft enough to almost fall off the bone, it’s done!
- To thicken the sauce, strain through a metal sieve and simmer the liquid in a pan. Add a touch of cornflour diluted in water and whisk until the gravy thickens.
- Serve with mashed potatoes and local spring greens.
If you don’t have a pressure cooker, you can still cook this recipe. Follow steps 1-4 on the hob, and then bake the lamb in a covered pan in the oven at 140 degrees for at least 1 and half hours. Then uncover and cook for another 30 minutes or until the lamb is coming away from the bone.
By the way, my pretty plates are from the Penzance range by the Caravan Trail – I always have questions about my plates when I publish recipes! Let me know if you have a go at making this recipe for yourself and I’d love to hear about the ways that you incorporate ethical eating into your life so please leave me a comment below 🙂
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