Slow cook Sunday: lamb shank and tomato ragu

I've been finding that preparing a slow cooked meal on Sunday morning is a great way to have an easy Sunday dinner with leftovers on Monday. Today's was from Consuming Passions.

Slow cooked lamb shank and tomato ragu
4 lamb shanks cut through the bone and trimmed of fat
4 sprigs parsley
4 sprigs rosemary
4 cloves garlic

2 tbs olive oil
250mL red wine
2 carrots, grated
1 zucchini, grated (from my frozen summer giants!)
1 stalk celery, chopped
750 mL tomato passata
500g pasta (I used penne; rice is great too)

Use a knife to cut a slit in a meaty part of each shank and poke in the parsley, rosemary and garlic (Ian Parmenter mentions folding and tying the meat with string...)

Brown the lamb in a casserole dish, remove, reduce heat, deglaze with the wine. Add the vegetables, simmer 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and meat, bring to a simmer. Cover tightly, simmer 5 hours. I do this in my oven set at 120-150C; you could also use a slow cooker or keep it on the stove top.

Remove lamb bones. Cook pasta, top with lamb and sauce.

This meal got big thumbs up from the boys- I will definitely be making it again, though perhaps looking for a cut of lamb that is currently cheaper than shanks!