Osso Bucco
Serves 4
Prep time = 20 minutes
Cooking time = up to 3 hours
Osso Bucco | The thing I love most about winter is the feeling of hibernation, of rushing home to be with my family in the warmth to put on fluffy slippers and have a cup of tea. I always enjoy getting into the kitchen and steaming up the windows with long, slow braises and soups in the stock pot. As the days get shorter and the nights smell of wood smoke and damp leaves, summer seems light years away. But that’s ok because we’re having veal osso bucco for dinner tonight and that makes everything right with the world!
Ingredients
- ½ cup plain flour
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp ground white pepper
- 4 veal osso bucco (around 1.2 kgs
- 2 tbs oil
- 2 carrots, diced
- 3 celery sticks, diced
- 2 onions, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- ¼ cup tomato paste
- 1 ½ cups white wine
- 1 ½ cups veal or beef stock
- 1 x 400 g tins chopped tomatoes
- 2 bay leaves
Method
STEP 1 | Combine flour, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Coat the osso bucco in the flour. Be careful to shake off the excess flour, otherwise it will burn in the pan.
STEP 2 | In a large fry pan, heat 1 tablespoon oil over a medium-high heat. Brown the osso bucco 2 until golden, and transfer to the bowl of a slow cooker.
STEP 3 | Lower the heat to medium. With the last tbs oil, add the carrots, celery, onion and garlic. Saute for 3-4 minutes or until the onion is translucent but not brown.
STEP 4 | Add tomato paste to the vegetables and cook for a further minute.
STEP 5 | Into the pan, add wine, stock, tomatoes and bay leaves. Add any of the leftover flour from coating the osso bucco.
STEP 6 | Place the vegetable mixture into the slow cooker. Make sure all the meat is submerged in the liquid – any meat poking out the top will be tough and dry.
STEP 7 | Put the lid on and leave for 3-5 hours. Check from 3 hours onwards, and when the veal is soft and falling away from the bone, it is ready.
STEP 8 | When the meat is cooked, if the sauce needs to be thickened further, remove the meat and keep under foil. Pour the sauce into a pot and place on a medium-low heat back on the stove top and boil until the sauce is as thick as you like it. Be careful to keep stirring so nothing burns.
STEP 9 | Serve on mashed potato, Milanese risotto or soft polenta. Top with gremolata – see below.
GREMOLATA | Combine ½ cup finely chopped parsley, 2 cloves finely chopped garlic and 1 tbs lemon zest. Sprinkle over the osso bucco.
