New Zealand, baby!  Veal and lamb is rare in our town and I’ve never found the shank or “souris” of either here.  As far as New Zealand lamb goes, I believe I found some chops in Scranton labeled New Zealand but they were most likely from Australia.

I found this imported lamb online and the shanks were pink, meaty and when browned, the kitchen was redolent with the fragrance of young, grass fed lamb.  Lucky us 🙂

I don’t remember where I found the inspiration for the tomato sauce I cooked the shanks in but the fresh herbs from the garden (basil, oregano and bay leaf) are so much better than dried.

I chose spicy Italian sausage links that weren’t too “hot” but flavorful and made with good quality meat.  Onion and garlic were fried in with the sausage, of course 🙂

Pasta is great with this recipe but my husband wanted mashed potatoes and that was good too.

New Zealand Lamb Shanks

2 tbsp olive oil

2 lamb shanks, seasoned with salt and pepper

2 small onions, halved and thinly sliced

3-4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

3/4 lb Italian sausage links, casings removed

2 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped

2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped

1 bay leaf

1/2 cup red wine

2 cans diced tomatoes

3 tbsp tomato paste

1 cup water

Salt and pepper

Hand mashed potatoes

Brown the lamb shanks in the olive oil, remove and set aside.  Saute the onions and garlic in the same pan/pot until soft.  Add the sausage meat, oregano and basil, then saute until the sausage meat is cooked.  Add the bay leaf and red wine and boil for 2 minutes.  Add the diced tomatoes, tomato paste, water, salt and pepper to taste, bring to a boil, then simmer for 1 1/2 – 2 hours until the shanks are very tender.