Preheat oven to 180°C.

Place flour in a clean plastic bag with salt and a generous grind of pepper.

Add shanks and shake to lightly coat.

Heat oil in a large, heavy-based pan and brown shanks in batches.

Transfer to a large baking dish along with garlic halves.

Discard excess fat from pan, add tomato paste and cook a minute or two to let the flavour develop.

Add remaining ingredients and bring to a fast simmer.

Stir well to lift any pan sediments then pour over meat.

Cover and bake for 2 hours (or if serving at once and not reheating, cook for 2½-3 hours or until very tender).

Cool, chill then remove any fat that sits on top.

To reheat, bring back to room temperature then cook a further 1 hour at 160°C.

Serve shanks with a garlic half and sauce.

Accompany with mash and peas and beans.

You can use beef or lamb stock for this recipe. We like to use a full-bodied red wine such as merlot for maximum flavour.

If you are covering this with foil, make sure you cut out a piece of baking paper that will sit inside the dish on top of the meat. This will ensure the meat does not dry out.