METHOD

• Place the lamb, onion, carrot. stock, thyme or rosemary, garlic pumpkin, salt and a few twists of freshly ground black pepper in the slow-cooker. Set on low and cook 7-9 hours. (Alternatively, pre-heat the oven to 355℉ fan [390℉]. Put everything in a large casserole dish, cover with a tightly fitting lid and cook for 3 hours. Stir once or twice during cooking, adding a little water if it starts looking dry.)
• When nearly ready to eat, prepare the Creamy Cauli Mash and set aside, covered to keep warm.
• Add the broccoli florets to the slow-cooker (or casserole), cover and cook for another 4-5 minutes. Add the silverbeet, stir through the dish and season to taste wit salt and pepper.
• Serve the lamb shanks in large bowls with a generous dollop of cauliflower mash alongside.

SLOW-COOKER TIPS

You can base all your slow-cooker, hotpot-style meals around this lamb recipe. Here are a few tips:

Use larger pieces of meat - try beef bolar, shin (osso bucco style), blade steak or topside. Any type of red meat will cook well. Simply divide it into smaller pieces once cooked.

With chicken, it's best to use the whole bird and keep it cooking very slowly so that it doesn't over-cook and become dry.

Cook as slowly and as long as time allows, to get the meat soft and succulent. If the liquid begins to dry up, top it up with a little water.

Swap some of the liquid in the above recipe for coconut cream, and add some ginger and lemongrass to give it a South East Asian twist. Serve with our Asian green for an exciting variation.

Use the chilli recipe from our WTF? Nachos for a delicious slow-cooked chilli - replace the mince with blade steak or topside and cook long and slowly until melting tender.

Red wine and hard herbs give a wonderful depth of flavour.

Finishing a slow-cooked dish with fresh herbs and piquant ingredients like capers, gherkins and other pickles really freshens things up. Or stir through some Cashew Basil Pesto or Salas Vervde to instantly elevate it to the next level.