To answer the question of what to serve with lamb shanks cooked in red wine, a polenta came to mind.
It provided a quick and delicious accompaniment and I added some crème de courgettes. To complement the polenta, a generous topping of the cooking jus rounded the taste.
The polenta I use is a pre-cooked maize one and it is ready in a few minutes. You have to stir it constantly as it has a tendency to plop out of the saucepan if left unattended and it thickens very quickly. It sometimes looks like the lava of a volcano and it is certainly very hot!
The addition of the crème de courgettes gave a different flavour to it and incorporated the vegetables. The meat jus, essentially meat gravy with a strong red wine, was pleasing to the palate.
Serves 4 :
- 500ml salted water
- 3 tablespoons maize polenta
- For the Cream of Courgettes:
- 2 medium-size courgettes, peeled and cut into chunks
- 1 onion, peeled and quartered
- 2 frozen cubes of garlic and parsley sauce
- 125ml single cream
- Cook the courgettes and onion in a pressure cooker and whizz.
- Add the cream and the garlic and parsley sauce.
- Bring the salted water to the boil and add the polenta, stirring all the time.
- When it is cooked (refer to the instructions on the packet for the cooking time), add the cream of courgettes and stir.
- Transfer into an oven-proof dish for 10 minutes at 180C.
- Just before serving, ladle some of the meat jus on top.
Bon Appétit!
Note: I have mentioned before how to make garlic and parsley sauce, garlic and basil sauce and garlic and coriander sauce in convenient ice cube containers for some of the previous recipes. I will do a separate post to recap all that.
Or… see the post of Coquilles Saint Jacques à ma Façon