Lamb Shanks In Honeyed Prune Sauce - cooking recipe

Ingredients

2 lamb shanks
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 lemon, juice and zest of
1 tablespoon olive oil
14 prunes, eg.Whitworth's Ready to Eat
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons cornflour (optional)
toasted almonds (to garnish) or chopped coriander (to garnish)

Preparation

In a large dish combine 2 tbs olive oil,onion,garlic,spices,lemon juice and zest.
Add lamb shanks.Coat with marinade and cover.Leave 2-3 hours in fridge(longer if time permits)stirring occasionally and turning the lamb.
Heat 1 tbs olive oil in large frying pan.Lift lamb shanks out of marinade and into frying pan.Brown lamb well on all sides.
Remove lamb from pan and place in a large casserole dish.
Add marinade ingredients to pan with 100mls/4 fluid ozs water and heat gently for 3-4 minutes.
Remove from heat.Add honey and prunes. Stir gently to incorporate,without breaking up the prunes.
Pour this heated mixture over the lamb shanks.Cover with lid or foil.
Cook in preheated oven 160 deg C,325 deg F,gas mark 3 for 2 1/2 hours.
If you prefer a thicker sauce,blend cornflour with a little cold water in a cup.Remove casserole from oven after two hours,stir a little of the sauce into the cornflour and water,mix well then stir back into the sauce in the casserole. Return casserole to oven for remaining half hour.
Serve garnished with toasted almonds and/or chopped coriander.