The Recipe Room

I can clearly remember when and where I first tasted Osso bucco, which literally means “bone in a hole”. This absolutely flavourful dish was the first meal I ate when I went to the Italian city of Milan to visit one of my aunts. After that, I just had to get the recipe from her.

I enjoy cooking it, but you have to take into account that normally it’s a dish you might prepare for more than two servings, and is traditionally served with rice and vegetables on the side.

The ingredients are very simple, but the flavours are quite intense because of the gremolada, which is a mix of garlic, parsley and lemon zest, added to the dish a few minutes before serving it. The outstanding part of this dish is given by the bone marrow of the Osso bucco veal steaks that melt while cooking. (If you like veal, try this rib of rose veal with a honey and soy glaze.)

It’s not a difficult recipe; however, there is a lot of prep involved, so give yourself some time.

 

Ingredients:

• 4 veal shanks cut thick
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 50g flour
• 50g butter
• 1/2 glass of white wine
• 1L beef stock
• Salt and Pepper to taste

For the “gremolada”:

• 1 clove garlic, very finely chopped or pressed with the garlic press
• Zest of 1 lemon, grated
• 1 tbsp continental parsley, finely chopped

 Method:

1. Put the butter and onion in a large pan and let it cook on a very gentle fire until the onion becomes transparent.
2. Cut the steaks along the outer membrane so they don’t curl while cooking and coat them with a bit of flour.
3.  Add the steaks, onion and butter and brown them on both sides.
4.  Add the white wine. You will burn the alcohol off by increasing the flame.
5.  Pour in some of the beef stock.
6.  Cover and cook until the meat is very tender. Make sure to add more beef stock as required and to turn them over occasionally, so that the steaks don’t stick to the pan.
7.  To prepare the gremolada, chop the parsley and the garlic and grate the zest of 1 lemon.
8.  Mix together and sprinkle on top of the osso bucco steaks a few minutes before turning the fire off.
9.  Season with salt and pepper depending on taste.
10. Serve with a side of vegetables and rice.

Tags: beef stock, butter, flour, garlic, Italian food, lemon, meat, milanese food, onion, Osso bucco alla Milanese, parsley, veal, white wine

This entry was posted on Wednesday, 25 April, 2012 at 12:58 pm by Gianluca Dievole and is filed under Main Courses, Meal for 4 people. You can follow any responses to this entry through the feed RSS 2.0. You can leave a comment, or make a trackback from your own blog.