How to Make Lamb Like Mourad – Lamb Shanks with Brown Butter Farro

I have fond memories of going to Aziza for the first time. Aziza is the restaurant Mourad Lahlou opened before Mourad, and is located in the Outer Richmond neighborhood. Very unassuming corner location, but were easily some of the best meals that I had in my life. I actually convinced by Aunt/Uncle and their friends to go there when they were in town, and to this day say it was one of the best meals of their life.

I had originally heard about Aziza in college when watching a show on the Food Network called “The Best Thing I’ve Ever Eaten”, and SF chef Chris Cosentino was on. His pick was a Duck Confit Basteeya from Aziza, duck confit with a lot of other spices wrapped in phyllo dough, and immediately tried to go there afterwards. It did not disappoint. I had never had so much flavor from all the food I was tasting, and the whole table ended up sharing basically everything since it was all so great. They still have it on the menu and can get it for take, definitely do it!

When I was flipping thorough the Mourad cookbook, two things stood out: the duck confit basteeya, and this lamb shank. I’ve had both, and both are absolutely amazing. It even says before this recipe that when Mourad was originally talking to his friends about doing a cookbook, 9 out of 10 asked “are the lamb shanks going to be in there?”.

I wouldn’t say that lamb shanks are very easy to get, but a few calls around to local butchers, you should be able to find some. During quarantine times, much more stores are online as well, so feel free to look online on a place like Mercato to see if there is anything local to you. If there is a lamb dish you are remotely thinking of doing, make it this one. Also Farro was randomly hard to find for me, that was another online pickup, but also saw it at a specialty store afterwards.

Cookbook – Mourad – New Moroccan

Ingredients –

Lamb –

Lamb shanks – I only used two since I was only feeding two total people
Salt
Onions – coarsely chopped – Around 8 cups, I ended up using a little less since that was all I had
Garlic – 1/4 cup – (32 grams)
Canola oil – 3/4 cup
Ground coriander – 1/4 cup
Ground ginger – 1 1/2 tbsp
Ground cumin – 1 tbsp
Fresh black pepper – 2 tsp
Tumeric – 2 tsp
Saffron threads – 1 tsp – Just get what you can find since saffron is very expensive
Lamb stock or chicken stock or water – 8-10 cups – I used chicken stock

Farro –

Salt – 3 tbsp
Farro – 2 1/4 cups
Red onion – 1 cup
Canola oil – 1/4 cup
Brown butter – 3/4 cup (I used a little less)

To Finish –

Unsalted butter – 4 tbsp (for braising liquid)
Finely chopped parsley (1 tsp) (for braising liquid)
Clarified butter or olive oil – (for brushing the lamb shanks)
Crunchy sea salt

Tools –

A few pans
Baking sheet
Bowls

Step 1 – Prep the Lamb

On a cooling rack on a baking sheet, place the lamb. Salt the lamb on all sides and put on the rack, cover with a damp paper towel, refrigerate overnight.

Step 2 – Get the Lamb Cooking

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Put the onions and garlic in a large bowl, toss with the oil.

Heat a large pan over medium, add a film of oil and sear the lamb shanks. Brown them on each side, as even as possible. You are not fully cooking them here, just a browning. Transfer to a baking sheet and let rest.

Add the onion mixture to the pan, stirring constantly until they are golden brown. Add 2 tbsp of salt, and the remaining spices. Stirring constantly to bring out their natural flavors.

Nestle the shanks, smoother side down, in the onions for 2-3 minutes. Turn the shanks over (the side with the most connective tissue will be facing down), add enough stock to come three quarters of the way up the shanks and bring to a boil.

Cover with a parchment lid, make this by pulling out a square of parchment paper big enough to cover the top of your pot. Fold one corner to its opposite, remember which side is the middle. Fold in half again, and keep making smaller triangles. On the middle side, cut about 1/4 inch from the tip. Unfold and there should be a small hole in the center of your square. Wet the edges, and place on top of your pan. Place in the oven for 2 hours 45 minutes.

Step 3 – Prepare the Farro

Cooking farro is basically like cooking rice, so I did mine slightly different from the instructions and followed the back of the package that I got. So i would recommend cooking the farro as it explains on the package.

Meanwhile, put the onions in a large saucepan and set over medium high heat. When the onions sizzle, decrease to medium/low, stirring occasionally, or until thee onions are soft and slightly caramelized.

Step 4 – Finish the Lamb

Carefully remove the shanks from the braising liquid, place them meaty side up on a baking sheet, cover with aluminum foil to keep warm.

Pour the braising liquid with the onions into a large sauce pan, bring to a boil gently for about 15 minutes and start to reduce. Reduce the sauce down until your desired flavor, if it seems weak, continue to reduce the liquid to intensify the sauce. When ready, add in the butter, and stir in the parsley.

Turn on the broiler, brush the shanks with clarified butter or olive oil and put in for a few minutes to brown.

Step 5 – Serve

Reheat the onions over medium, and stir in the farro, brown butter, stir to coat.

Spoon the farro onto your serving dishes, set the lamb shanks over them, spoon enough sauce to your liking and enjoy.

I have a new rating system! Going to continue to refine this but this is a great way to rate each dish through multiple different categories. Each one if out of 5 stars.

Difficulty of ingredients to find – 5/5 stars – I needed a few trips to find lamb, farro, plus multiple spices
Perceived difficulty going into recipe – 4.5/5 stars – reading other recipes in the book is pretty intimidating, this is no exception.
Difficulty after recipe – 4/5 stars – This will definitely take some effort, definitely more effort than an average meal, but you will be rewarded
Time Taken – 5/5 stars – More than 4 hours – There are multiple parts to the recipe, but the bulk is thankfully spent in the oven and just takes time
Taste – 4.5/5 stars – very close to a 5, and was absolutely an amazing dish
Would I make again? 5/5 stars – Without a doubt, everyday if I could