Cooking With Wine - Piedmontese Lamb Shanks And Cannellini Beans In Red Wine Sauce

This recipe is based on a memorable dinner at Felicin in Monforte d' Alba where it complemented a 1995 Sandrone Cunnubi e Boschi Barolo. The recipe is supplemented by a few hints from Lorenza de Medici's Tuscan cookbook. Serves four. If you have a large enough pot double the recipe for double the pleasure.


Olive Oil
12 or more crushed Garlic Cloves
1 large Onion cut in strips
2 Bay Leaves
4 Lamb Shanks
2 tbsp. Beef Bouillion
1 cup boiling water
1 bottle Red Wine
1/2 tbsp. Italian Herbs (optional)
4 cans Cannellini (White Kidney) Beans
1/4 cup Port
Black Pepper
Dutch Oven

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Saute the onion and crushed garlic in olive oil. Add bay leaves to pan. In a separate pan brown the Lamb Shanks in olive oil. Put the lamb shank, onions, garlic, bay leaves , Italian herbs (optional) and beef bouillion (dissolved in one cup of boiling water) into the Dutch oven. Add one bottle of red wine. Two buck chuck will do. If you have left over wine or sediment from other red wine add it, too. The more wines the merrier. As soon as the liquid starts to boil lower heat to 375 and cook one and half to two hours. Add beans and cook another hour or so until the meat is just about to fall off the bones. Add Port or Sweet Marsala to taste. Salt and black pepper to taste. This dish tastes even better after one or more days in the fridge and can easily be reheated in the same pot. It will keep in the fridge for a week. Cook in advance and serve to company. Serve with Barolo or any big red such as a Rhone, Mourvedre or Syrah.