Perfect winter dish

"I can't believe how quickly the year is disappearing!" we comment to each other, as appointments are booked for July and August, and spring fashion is starting to appear in the shops while we're only just getting into the swing of wearing our winter coats.

It's a common refrain about how quickly the time seems to disappear. For me, I measure how quickly the year is going by the appearance of my Delicious magazine. I feel like I've barely glanced at the previous month's issue before the new one is in my letterbox. Some issues are full of inspiring dishes, while others barely stir my cooking passion. But the July issue, which arrived yesterday, is packed full of dishes I can't wait to try.

Generally, I flick through issues and mark which dishes I want to try. Some get made that month; unfortunately most don't and join my long list of "recipes to try". But this month was different. For the first time, I marked a recipe and made it the very next day. This is a first for me. But this was also a special dish. It was lamb shank cassoulet.

Cassoulet is a dish I've long wanted to try and I've collected many recipes over the years. It's a rich, slow-cooked casserole, originating in the south of France, that contains meat,m such as pork, goose or duck, and white beans, usually haricot, but cannellini beans are a good substitute. The dish is named after the cassole, the distinctive deep round earthernware pot with slanting sides in which the cassoulet is traditionally cooked.

Cassoulet doesn't seem a particularly complicated recipe but it does require planning and preparation - most of my recipes seem to involve duck confit and/or duck, which either require an extra trip to a specialist shop or, in the case of confit, another long preparation process - and it does require long, slow cooking time.

So this lamb shank version sounded ideal, especially as all ingredients were easy to hand. It's time-consuming but not complicated and the end result is a revelation. I think this is one of the best dishes I've ever made and I can't wait to make it again. It's an ugly duckling sort of dish: it's not the most attractive dish to look at but the flavours are sublime. The lamb shank meat becomes meltingly tender, while the cannellini beans give it guts and the crisp breadcrumbs sprinkled over the top add an extra flavour dimension. If you are after this winter's perfect recipe, I urge you to make this as soon as you can!

Lamb shank cassoulet

From the "French Connection" article by Valli Little, Delicious magazine, July 2009

1/4 cup (60ml) olive oil, plus extra to fry
4 lamb shanks, French-trimmed
50g pancetta or speck, cut into strips
2 onions, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tsp chopped rosemary leaves
2 Tbs tomato paste
2 bay leaves
4 thyme sprigs, plus 1 Tbs chopped leaves
1 cup (250ml) dry white wine
1 litre (4 cups) lamb or chicken stock
4 Toulouse sausages (I was unable to get these, so substituted with four mild Italian pork sausages instead)
2 x 400g cans cannellini beans, drained, rinsed
30g unsalted butter
1 cup (70g) fresh breadcrumbs
2 Tbs chopped flat-leaf parsley

Heat 2 Tbs oil in a flameproof casserole or heavy-based pan over medium-high heat. Season lamb, then brown for five minutes, turning, until sealed on all sides. Remove and set aside. Add pancetta to pan and cook, stirring, for 3-4 minutes or until crisp. Add onion, garlic and rosemary, season, then cook for 3-4 minutes. Add tomato paste, bay leaves and thyme sprigs, stir for 1 minute, then add wine and simmer over medium-high heat until reduced by half. Add stock and lamb shanks. Cover surface closely with a sheet of baking paper, then simmer on a very low heat for 2 1/2 to 3 hours until lamb is very tender.

Meanwhile, heat a little extra oil in a pan on medium-high heat. Brown sausages for 3-4 minutes. Remove, then slice into 2cm thick slices (they'll finish cooking in the sauce).

Remove lamb shanks from pan. Skim excess fat from sauce, then boil over medium heat for 3-4 minutes until reduced. Reduce heat to medium-low , add beans and sausages, then simmer for 10 minutes or until sausage is cooked. Return lamb to pan to warm through. Keep warm.

Meanwhile, melt butter in a pan over medium heat, add breadcrumbs and chopped thyme and cook, stirring, for 3-4 minutes or until crisp. Stir in parsley. Serve cassoulet sprinkled with herbed crumbs.

Casserole weather

Some days, despite the thousands of recipes in my cookbooks and recipe files, I lack inspiration. The weather has sharpened into winter, making it perfect for pottering in the kitchen and conjuring up stews, casseroles and soups. But no recipe takes my fancy as I flick through my books. I've made a lot of soups lately and hanker for something more solid and substantial. I'm out of puff pastry, taking hearty pies off the menu. And the casserole recipes I find are more tricky than I want, involving lengthy marinating time. I want something I can throw together quickly in a pot and leave to simmer into an aromatic stew in the oven while I busy myself with other things.

And this is where my sister Bec comes to the rescue. She is an intuitive cook, who is able to mix up wonderfully aromatic and delicious meals without the need for recipes. Bec gave me the idea for a lamb shank casserole, which is a cinch to put together and cooks by itself in two hours, leaving you plenty of time to relax before sitting down to a hearty and nutritious meal. The extra bonus of this recipe is that it's not prescriptive and can be made with whatever vegetables you have in the fridge. Vegetarians could omit the lamb shanks, as the vegetable stew is delicious on its own or served with crusty bread.

LAMB SHANK CASSEROLE

2 lamb shanks
2-3 sticks celery, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 onion, sliced
2 carrots, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
2 potatoes, diced
1 tsp each of ground cumin and ground coriander
salt and pepper to taste
1 tub tomato paste
1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes

Heat oven to 180 degrees. Heat 1-2 tablespoons oil in a large casserole dish and brown shanks. Remove to a plate. Heat some more oil and saute the vegetables until softened. Add the tomato paste and chopped tomatoes and stir. Sprinkle over the spices and stir. Add the lamb shanks, stir to coat, cover with a lid and place in the oven for up to two hours (depending on how quickly the stew cooks). Stir occasionally to make sure the vegetables don't stick. The shanks should become meltingly tender and the meat fall off the bone.

Use whatever vegetables and spice you have in the cupboard to put your own spin on this recipe. You could use four lamb shanks, as the stew makes enough for four servings, but I like to reheat the leftovers the next day and serve with something else.