This is the best thing to eat on a cold winter's night, well worth the time it takes to cook. And it isn't as demanding as the exhausting challenge the MasterChef contestants will be faced with in weeks to come ... wait and see! You can make this wonderful wintry meal in just three hours.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 4 lamb shanks, cleaned
• Flour, for dusting
• Salt and pepper
• 30ml (2 tbsp) oil
• 2 sticks celery, roughly chopped
• 2 leeks, roughly chopped
• 2 onions, roughly chopped
• 2 carrots, roughly chopped
• 2 tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 30ml (2 tbsp) tomato paste
• 500ml (2 cups) red wine
• 2 litres lamb or beef stock
• 4 fresh rosemary sprigs
• 1 whole garlic bulb
• 200g button mushrooms, quartered

Method:

Dust the lamb shanks with the flour and seasoning. Heat the oil in a wide, deep pan and brown the shanks all over. Add half the celery, leeks, onions and carrots.

Cook on medium heat until the vegetables are softened. Stir in the tomatoes and tomato paste, deglaze with the wine and cook until slightly reduced.

 Add the stock (enough to cover everything) along with the rosemary and whole garlic bulb. Reduce heat, cover with foil or a lid and simmer for 2 hours.

 Check that the meat is tender (if not, cook for a little longer), then add the remaining vegetables and the mushrooms. Cook uncovered until the vegetables are done and the sauce is thickened. Serve hot with mash, couscous or bread for all the lovely rich sauce.

You can also roast this in the oven at 160°C. First brown the lamb, and sauté the reserved vegetables and mushrooms in a pan before adding them at the end.

Benny's perfect  mash

Peel and chop 6 potatoes and put in a pot of cold water. Bring to the boil and cook until soft.

Drain well, put back in the warm, dry pot and mash before adding any butter or liquid. Add cream, butter or milk as needed and season. Serves 4.

• Watch MasterChef SA at 7.30pm on Tuesdays on M-Net, repeated at 1pm on Sundays.