Baked Lamb Shanks

This is another new one for me. I've cooked with lamb in curry and kafta, but I've never worked with lamb shanks before. I'm really loving trying all these new things.

Baked lamb shanks

3 sprigs fresh rosemary
3 oz. cold butter
8 fresh sage leaves
1 sprig fresh thyme, leaves picked
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 lamb shanks
6 cloves garlic, unpeeled
6 small carrots, finely sliced
1 leek, washed, and finely sliced
olive oil
1-2 cups white wine

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pick the leaves of the rosemary, whiz them with the butter, most of the sage and the thyme in a food processor (or mash with a knife) and season with salt and pepper. Using a small knife, take one of the lamb shanks and cut between the meat and the bone from the base of the shank upwards. You want to create a hole big enough to put your finger in, making a sort of pocket. Do this to both shanks and divide the flavored butter between them, pushing it into the pockets. This will give a wonderful flavor to the heart of the shanks.

Tear off two large pieces of aluminum foil. Divide the garlic and vegetables between them, making a pile in the middle of each foil piece. Rub the lamb shanks with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, then put one on top of each pile of vegetables and a sprig of rosemary and a few sage leaves on the top of that. Carefully pull up the sides of the foil around the shanks and pour a swig of wine into each. Gather the foil around the bone, pinching it together tightly. Place the parcels on a baking pan with the bones facing up. Put in the preheated oven for 2 1/2 hours.