RED WINE BRAISED LAMB SHANK SAMOOSAS WITH RED WINE SAUCE & GARLIC CREAM

BREEDEKLOOF

3 lamb shanks

Salt & pepper

11/2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, coarsely chopped

1 carrot, coarsely chopped

1 celery stalk, coarsely chopped

1 bulb garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped

1 cup red wine

2,3 litres lamb stock

Spring roll pastry (available at most specialist Asian food stores)

Preheat oven to 150°C. Season shanks with salt and pepper. Sear shanks in the olive oil over medium-high heat for 10 minutes or until brown on all sides. Remove the shanks and set aside. Add onion, carrot, celery, and garlic to the pan and cook for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Deglaze with the red wine and return the lamb shanks to the pan. Add the lamb stock, cover tightly and braise in the oven for 6 to 8 hours or until the meat is very tender. Remove the lamb shanks from the pan and reserve the braising liquid. Remove meat from the bone, reduce braising liquid, add one cup to meat and reserve some to serve with the samoosas. Roll two tablespoons meat into spring roll pastry to form triangles until mixture is finished.

Red wine sauce

Use the remaining reduced braising liquid.

Garlic cream

½ cup cleaned garlic cloves

1 cup milk

Pinch sugar

Sprig thyme

Salt & pepper

Slowly cook all the ingredients until garlic cloves are soft. Blend in a food processor until smooth, strain through a fine sieve. Season with salt and pepper

To serve

Drizzle the red wine sauce and garlic cream around the samoosas. Garnish with pan-fried button mushrooms.

- Reuben Riffel, Reuben's Restaurant & Bar

Reds

The spiciness of this dish is nicely balanced by a medium-bodied red from the vineyards in the Breedekloof valley, which flourish on alluvial valley soils with adequate drainage as they rest on a bed of river stones. Pinotage, our indigenous variety, a cross between Pinot Noir and Cinsaut (Hermitage), is a perfect match whether stand-alone or in a blend, as are the Cabernets.

Bergsig Estate Pinotage

Lorraine Cape Harmony (Pinotage-Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot)

Opstal Cabernet Sauvignon

Philip Jordaan Cabernet Franc

Romansrivier Mountain Ridge (Malbec-Pinotage)