Braised Lamb Shanks - natural yoghurt

Method

• Spoon the yoghurt into a fine meshed sieve and place over a bowl, cover and refrigerate overnight to allow esxcess liquid to drain from the yoghurt.
• Preheat oven to 165C conventional or 140C fan forced.
• Heat a large deep ovenproof frying pan over high heat until hot.
• Seaon shanks well with salt and pepper,.
• Cover the base of the pan with oil and cook shanks in two batches for 5 minutes, turning until golden all over.
• Retrn all shanks to the pan and deglaze the pan wih the wine.
• Pour in the chicken stock and then remove the pan from the heat.
• Spoon the yoghurt over the lamb to cover.
• Scatter over the shallots, garlic, thyme, lemon rind, mastic and drizzle with honey.
• Place a cartouche (round of baking paper) onto the surface of the lamb and cover with a tight fitting lid.
• Transfer to the oven and cook for 4 hours.
• Remove the lid, cartouche and sprigs of thyme.
• Carefully transfer the lamb to a warm serving platter and spoon over some of the thick yoghurt on top.
• Strain the juices into a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat.
• Squeeze in the juice from half a lemon.
• Remove from the heat, insert a stick blender into the sauce and while blending add 2-3 tablespoons of extra virgin oil.
• Taste and season with salt and pepper.
• Pour the sauce over the lamb, scatter with parsley and serve.