Nothing beats a slow cooked roast recipe to chase away the winter blues… all you need is a little time up your sleeve.

I find slow cooking meats much easier than cooking the perfect steak (personally I like to leave cooking steaks to the hubby). This recipe can be used to roast pork, beef or lamb.  If you are substituting the meat, be sure to compliment it with some matching herbs. Use a salt and spice /herb mix to rub onto the meat prior to browning the meat, a water/stock component to assist with slow cooking and avoid burning the meat, and acidic ingredients (wine or citric juice) to help with tenderising the meat over a period of slow cooking.

Slow cooked roasts generally require 3-4 hours in an oven temperature of 140 degrees Celsius. You will need a heavy stock pot to use for this recipe.

If you wish to switch the meats, consider the following flavor combinations:

Roast Pork- goes with white wine, clove, juniper berries, chili, mustard, honey, soy. Use a chicken or vegetable stock.

Roast Beef – Matches best with red wine, black peppercorns, Dijon mustard, sweet brown onions and herbs such as thyme. Use a beef stock.

Roast Chicken – Goes with white wine, thyme, oregano and sage, Dijon or seeded mustard. Use a vegetable or chicken stock and add lemon juice.

What you will need:

3-4 Lamb shanks (approx 1kg of meat)

1 tbs olive oil

3-4 garlic cloves

5-6 fresh mint leaves

2 springs rosemary

1 tbs salt (preferably rock salt)

1 cup tomato passata

1 cup red wine

2 cups of warm chicken stock, or 1 stock cube dissolved in hot water.

For this recipe, you can add some “slow roasting” vegetables such as carrots, celery and onion. Root vegetables such as potatoes or turnips can also be added. It is best to cut these into large chunks.

Preheat the over at 150 degrees Celsius.

To create the salt rub, combine the salt, mint leaves, rosemary, cloves and olive oil using either a mini food processor or mortar and pestle.

Using a small sharp knife, cut slits into each shank.  This will allow the flavours to penetrate the meat. Coat generously with the herb/salt rub and set aside for ten minutes at room temperature. Poke a few of the garlic chunks into the slits.

Using a heavy, ovenproof saucepan, brown the meat quickly on high heat.

Add the roughly cut onions and other vegetables of your choice. Continue to turn the lamb.

Add the wine, warm liquid stock and tomato pasta. Ensure the meat is submerged in the liquid. Allow the ingredients to warm on the stove for 1 minute.

Place the lid on the pan and transfer to a preheated oven. Cook for 2 hours, turn the meat, then cook for a further hour and a half. Keep an eye on the amount of liquid in the pot. If the pot is beginning to dry out, add more water. At the end of the cooking time, there should be about 1/2 centimeter of liquid in the pot,  and the meat should fall away easily from the bone.

Serve with your favorite sides. We enjoy ours served with a sweet potato mash and salad!