Osso Buco

This should really be called Ossi Buchi, being the plural of the cut of meat, but I didn't want to confuse matters or seem even more pedantic than I already do!  It's a truly sublime long, slow cooked stew of veal or baby beef shanks (the ‘authentic’ version uses veal shanks but I prefer the "bigger" flavour and gooey marrow of baby beef.  Up to you) with a rich winey and vegetable sauce.  The finely chopped lemon rind/parsley mixture called gremolata adds a really interesting tang to the dish. 

Serve with a rich Risotto Milanese (see recipe in Rice, Pasta, Noodles section) or soft polenta, a green salad and lots of red wine.

Serves 6.  Amounts can easily be increased to feed more people ( a couple more beef shanks, another carrot, a slosh more wine ...).

 

Ingredients:

6 baby beef shanks (get nice meaty ones, with lots of bone and marrow too)

6-8 (yes! 6-8) cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

2 carrots, finely chopped

2 sticks of celery, finely chopped

1 x 400 g tin Roma peeled tomatoes, or 6-8 fresh Roma tomatoes, peeled

1 tbspn tomato paste (optional)

approx 300 ml red wine

approx 300 ml chicken stock

1 tbspn fresh parsley, roughly shredded

1 tbspn fresh thyme, roughly shredded

1 tbspn fresh oregano, roughly shredded

salt and pepper

extra virgin olive oil

 

 

 

Gremolata

 

1 tbspn lemon rind, finely grated

bunch parsley, finely chopped

 

Method:

Heat a few tablespoons olive oil in a large heavy frying pan, brown beef shanks lightly on each side (in batches) then transfer to a plate, making sure they're standing upright so the marrow can't slip out.

Add a little more oil to the pan and gently saute the carrots, celery and garlic until ‘melted’, scraping the yummy brown bits from the beef into the mixture. Add tomatoes with juice, chop up roughly and combine well. Add the tomato paste, red wine and stock, herbs and a little salt and pepper, and allow to bubble vigorously for 15-20 minutes to really develop the flavours and melt down the vegetables.

Put the beef shanks with all their juices into a large, deep, heavy casserole with a lid, layering the shanks over each other (but keeping them upright) then pour the wine and vegetable mixture over, making sure the wine and vegetable mixture is distributed evenly throughout and between the layers. Cover and pop into the oven, and cook at around 160C for about 2 hours (ie, long, dead slow cooking) until beef is tender enough to cut with a spoon. Take out of oven 15 minutes before serving.

Mix together the finely chopped parsley and lemon rind (this mixture is called ‘gremolata’) and sprinkle over the osso buco, or put in a small dish and pass around for guests to serve themselves.  Sucking the bones and slurping out the marrow is mandatory!