Recipe of Salt-baked lamb shanks

Ingredients

• 4 Lamb shanks,French trimmed,trim reserved.
• 8 Garlic cloves.
• Olive oil for drizzling.

For salt crust dough

• 1 kg Plain flour,plus extra for dusting.
• 300 g Fine sea salt.
• 3 Eggs whites.

Procedure

Make the salt-crust dough.Mix the flour and salt together in a large bowl and add the egg whites and 400 ml water then stir together with a wooden spoon to form a firm dough add a little more water if needed.Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes or until smooth.Wrap in cling film and set aside to rest for 1 hour.Heat oven to 160 C fan/gas 3 and line a baking tray with parchment. 

Divide the dough into 4 even-sized pieces.On a lightly floured surface,roll each into a circle almost 1 cm thick.Place a lamb shank in the center of each disc of dough and tuck 2 garlic cloves underneath then brush the edge of the dough with a little water,then gather it up and around the lamb shank, leaving the bone exposed. Make sure all the meat is covered and the pastry is well sealed.Transfer it to the lined tray. 

Put the lamb in the oven and bake for 3-4 hours  by which time the crust will have turned a dark brown.Once the lamb is cooked,leave it to rest for 30 mins.Using a bread knife,open the crust and very carefully remove the shanks and the softened garlic cloves,then discard the crust.Place the shanks on a baking tray and drizzle with a little oil.Blowtorch the lamb to give it a crisp,toasty finish.Serve the lamb with the garlic cloves and soused red cabbage.