michelle picker cooks

Ossobuco means ‘bone with a hole’ in Italian, and traditionally refers to veal shanks. These days, the slow braised shanks are more often beef. The dish is a speciality of Lombardy and this fabulous recipe comes from The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan.

Preheat your oven to 180ºC (350ºF). Choose a heavy-bottomed pot or dutch oven which can accommodate the shanks in a single layer. Heat 45g (1½ oz) of butter over medium heat and add 1 finely chopped onion, 3 finely chopped carrots and 2 finely chopped sticks of celery. Cook for 6-7 minutes then add 1-2 cloves of finely diced garlic and 2 small strips of lemon rind (without any pith attached). Cook until the vegetables are wilted then remove from the heat. In a frypan, heat 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil to medium / high. Truss 4 – 6 ossobuco so that they don’t fall apart and dust them with a little flour. Brown them well on both sides then remove them from the frypan and place them in a single layer over the vegetables in the pot. If there is too much oil in your frypan, remove some and then add 1 cup of dry white wine, reducing it a little while scraping off all the browned meat residue. Pour this over the shanks. Now add 1 cup of beef stock to the frypan and bring it to a simmer then pour it over the shanks as well. To the pot add 1 can of chopped tomatoes and their juices, ¼ of a teaspoon of dried thyme, 2 bay leaves, 2-3 sprigs of chopped parsley and salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Bring the liquid in the pot to a simmer then cover the pot tightly and place it in the lower part of your oven. Cook for 2 hours, turning the shanks a few times, until the meat is very tender and the sauce has thickened. If you need to add more liquid during this time, only add 2 tablespoons at a time. If the sauce is not thick enough, remove the ossobuco to a serving platter and quickly reduce the sauce on the stovetop. It is traditional to serve ossobuco with a gremolada sprinkled over the top just before it’s finished cooking. To make this, combine 1 teaspoon of very finely diced lemon rind, ¼ of a teaspoon of mince garlic and 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley. Serve with a soft polenta or risotto.