If you’re celebrating Easter, chances are you’re breaking bread with family or friends. Classic dishes like deviled eggs, mashed potatoes, asparagus, glazed ham and lamb will make an appearance on the buffet table. Pound cake, carrot cake, flavored coffee and mimosas may show up for dessert.
Instead of working extra hours in the kitchen, enjoy the Easter egg hunt and take pictures of the kids opening their Easter baskets this year. You can prepare your lamb dish in the slow cooker before festivities get underway, so you can enjoy the fun with everyone else.
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large sweet onion chopped
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 4 medium carrots peeled and roughly chopped
- 3 celery ribs roughly chopped
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse black pepper
- 4 lamb shanks about 1 lb. each
- 1 bottle burgundy wine 750ml
- 3 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 2 dried bay leaves
- Heat oil in a large dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic. Cook for 3 minutes. Stir in carrots and celery and cook for an additional 3 minutes. Transfer onion and carrot mixture to a medium bowl.
- Shake flour, salt and pepper in a recloseable plastic zipper bag. Place lamb in bag. Seal and shake until lamb is coated.
- Add coated lamb shanks to dutch oven to brown on all sides, cooking over medium high heat about 15 minutes. Add additional oil, if necessary.
- Place lamb shanks in slow cooker crock. Top with onion and carrot mixture, wine, rosemary sprigs and bay leaves.
- Cover slow cooker and cook on HIGH 3 1/2 to 4 hours or LOW 7 to 8 hours until meat is tender.
If you have a slow cooker with stove-top safe cookware, substitute the cookware for the skillet in the directions above. After browning or sautéing, place cookware in base, cover and cook as directed in recipe.
TAGS: lamb, slow cooker
CATEGORIES: easter, Everyday Recipes, Healthy Eating, Holidays, main courses
