Osso Buco
Serves 4-6 | Preparation 45 min, cooking 3-4 hours
This Italian dish transfers bony beef shanks into tender and delicious comfort food – pulled beef so to speak – after a lengthy cooking time. I remember having this dish as a young kid in the 70’s and loving it. Traditional Lombardian Osso Buco contains celery sticks/stalks. I replaced them with root celery and added plenty of carrots and garlic. A jalopeño or green chili pepper gives some extra punch. Osso Buco/Ossobuco is usually served over polenta or risotto with Gremolata: a mixture of parsley, olive oil, lemon and garlic.
Instructions
1. Slice the peeled root celery and carrots and cut them into thin (almost julienne) sticks.
2. Slice the shallots, garlic and jalapeño.
3. Preheat the oven to 175°C/350°F/gas mark 4, no fan.
4. Pan-fry the vegetables in 1-2 tbs ev olive oil for about 10 minutes on medium-high heat. This gives extra flavor and makes the vegetables sweeter and mushier.
5. Cut off excess fat from the meat but don’t remove the rim/membrane: it keeps the bits in place while cooking.
6. Brown the bony shank steaks one by one in ev olive oil on medium-high heat; about 1 minute per side.
7. Coat/rub the meat bits generously with salt and pepper. If you want a thicker sauce, toss the beef in 1 tbsp plain flour/apf.
8. (Optional). Tie the outer rims of the shank steaks firmly with cheesecloth strips or cotton kitchen string to keep the meat better intact in the oven. The binding comes off easily during cooking but keeps the meat in place a bit longer, so you can serve whole ”steaks” later on.
9. Place the beef in a big Dutch oven/lidded cooking pot and add the vegetables and bay leaves.
10. Mix the tomato puree, chicken stock and thyme and pour over the meat and vegetables (or crumble the stock cubes into the pot, mix the puree and thyme with water and pour on top).
11. Close the lid and cook in the oven for three to four hours until the meat is tender and can be pulled with a fork. Add some water during cooking, if necessary. Remove the cotton strings/bindings when done.
12. Prepare the Gremolata: rinse, drain and mince the parsley, (the upper, thinner stalks can be cut into tiny bits as well).
13. Mince the garlic.
14. Grate the lemon zest and squeeze the lemon juice.
15. Mix the parsley, olive oil, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, pepper and sugar.
16. Serve the Osso Buco with polenta, risotto, plain rice, potatoes, mashed potatoes or pasta and Gremolata.
Serves 4-6 | Preparation 45 min, cooking 3-4 hours
This Italian dish transfers bony beef shanks into tender and delicious comfort food – pulled beef so to speak – after a lengthy cooking time. I remember having this dish as a young kid in the 70’s and loving it. Traditional Lombardian Osso Buco contains celery sticks/stalks. I replaced them with root celery and added plenty of carrots and garlic. A jalopeño or green chili pepper gives some extra punch. Osso Buco/Ossobuco is usually served over polenta or risotto with Gremolata: a mixture of parsley, olive oil, lemon and garlic.
Ingredients
✧ 2 kg/4.4 lb beef shanks, cut into 3.5-4.5 cm/1.5-2’’ slices
✧ 2-3 tbsp ev olive oil
✧ 3-4 tsp salt
✧ ~2 tsp black pepper
✧ (optional) ~1 tbsp plain flour
✧ 600 g/1.3 lb/21 oz root celery (1-2 pcs)
✧ 300 g/0.66 lb/10.6 oz carrots (3-4 pcs)
✧ 300 g/0.66 lb shallots
✧ 10-12 cloves of garlic
✧ 1 jalapeño
✧ 2-3 bay leaves
✧ 1-2 tsp dried thyme
✧ 140-150 g/5 oz concentrated tomato puree
✧ 750 ml/3.2 cups chicken stock (3 crumbled cubes + water)
For the Gremolata
✧ 50-90 ml/0.2-0.4 cups ev olive oil (to taste)
✧ 100 g/3.5 oz fresh parsley (2-3 bunches)
✧ 3 cloves of garlic
✧ zest of 1 lemon
✧ juice of ½ lemon
✧ ~0.5 tsp salt
✧ ~0.5 tsp black pepper
✧ ~0.25 tsp sugar
Instructions
1. Slice the peeled root celery and carrots and cut them into thin (almost julienne) sticks.
2. Slice the shallots, garlic and jalapeño.
3. Preheat the oven to 175°C/350°F/gas mark 4, no fan.
4. Pan-fry the vegetables in 1-2 tbs ev olive oil for about 10 minutes on medium-high heat. This gives extra flavor and makes the vegetables sweeter and mushier.
5. Cut off excess fat from the meat but don’t remove the rim/membrane: it keeps the bits in place while cooking.
6. Brown the bony shank steaks one by one in ev olive oil on medium-high heat; about 1 minute per side.
7. Coat/rub the meat bits generously with salt and pepper. If you want a thicker sauce, toss the beef in 1 tbsp plain flour/apf.
8. (Optional). Tie the outer rims of the shank steaks firmly with cheesecloth strips or cotton kitchen string to keep the meat better intact in the oven. The binding comes off easily during cooking but keeps the meat in place a bit longer, so you can serve whole ”steaks” later on.
9. Place the beef in a big Dutch oven/lidded cooking pot and add the vegetables and bay leaves.
10. Mix the tomato puree, chicken stock and thyme and pour over the meat and vegetables (or crumble the stock cubes into the pot, mix the puree and thyme with water and pour on top).
11. Close the lid and cook in the oven for three to four hours until the meat is tender and can be pulled with a fork. Add some water during cooking, if necessary. Remove the cotton strings/bindings when done.
12. Prepare the Gremolata: rinse, drain and mince the parsley, (the upper, thinner stalks can be cut into tiny bits as well).
13. Mince the garlic.
14. Grate the lemon zest and squeeze the lemon juice.
15. Mix the parsley, olive oil, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, pepper and sugar.
16. Serve the Osso Buco with polenta, risotto, plain rice, potatoes, mashed potatoes or pasta and Gremolata.
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