Osso Bucco – loosly translated as ‘bone with hole’ – is a rich, delicious, decadent and immensely satisfying dish. Cooked low and slow, the bone marrow is incredibly flavourful and the meat should fall off the bone. The saffron risotto is a perfect accompaniment, making the whole dish feel like a luxurious treat for the senses. Don’t even get me started on the gremolata, which is too perfect for words!
As with most classics, there are variations. Some recipes cook the dish bianco, ie without tomatoes, but I prefer the richness of tomatoes as well as the colour. The dish is rich and filling, so keeping it light with chicken stock, white wine and veal is the established wisdom, but I have made equally good versions with beef shin, beef stock and red wine. Just don’t plan on going very far afterwards!
If you have never made this before, or ordered it in a restaurant, you simply must give it a try.
Enjoy!
(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
Loading...Ingredients
- 2 pieces of veal shin, with the bone in
- 2 tablespoons plain flour
- 1 medium onion
- 1 large carrot
- 1 large stick celery
- Good quality chicken stock, 500ml
- 200g chopped tomatoes
- 150ml white wine
- Rosemary, bay leaf, salt and pepper.
- For the risotto:
- 1 onion
- 200g risotto rice
- 100ml white wine
- A pinch of saffron
- 400ml chicken stock
- 50g parmesan cheese
- 1 knob of butter
- For the gremolata:
- 2 cloves garlic, grated
- Zest of 2 lemons
- small handful of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped.
Instructions
Pre-heat the oven to 160º.
Dust the veal shins with seasoned flour and fry in a large, wide pan for 5 minutes either side until they take on a bit of colour. Set aside.
Slice the onion, carrot and celery as finely as you can and cook gently for 10 minutes.
Turn up the heat, add the white wine and reduce by at least half.
Add the tomatoes and chicken stock and mix well. Season well, add a few sprigs of rosemary and a bay leaf before mixing together.
Add the veal shins to the pan and transfer to the oven. Cook for 1.5 hours. The meat should be meltingly tender but try not to overcook it as you want the shin to stay intact for serving.
When you are ready to serve, cook the risotto. Fry the onion gently in a little olive oil and butter until soft and translucent, taking care not to burn or colour the onions.
Add the risotto rice and coat well with the onion.
Turn up the heat and add the white wine, stirring well. When this has been absorbed, reduce the heat and add 1 ladleful of hot stock.
Stir well until the rice has absorbed the stock, then add stock a bit at a time, stirring all the time, until the rice is cooked 'al dente.'
Add the grated parmesan cheese, a knob of butter and season to taste with salt and plenty of black pepper.
Finally, mix the gremolata ingredients together, without oil.
Serve the veal shin on top of the risotto with plenty of sauce, finished with a sprinkling of gremolata.
Notes
If using beef shin, as veal can be harder to find, increase cooking time by 1 hour. Tip: the shins sometimes curl up as you fry them. Cut the sinews around the edge with sharp scissors to help keep the shape of the meat.
Brina
September 8, 2020 at 6:32 amMy favourite! Perfect recipe!