From her paradigm-shifting new book, The Kitchen Ecosystem, Eugenia Bone shares a simple yet savory recipe that is sure to become a fall favorite.
This is my father’s osso bucco recipe. Like all of his cooking, it is simple, honest, and savory. I always have leftover bones, some meat, and a bunch of vegetable remnants soaked in gelatin and fat. This makes an awesome base for a lentil, chickpea, or bean soup. Just add the beans and water and cook until the beans are tender. (Throw in any leftover mushrooms and the gremolada, too.) I’ve made this recipe with elk shanks, too. Awesome, though they need to cook a bit longer. You can use any cultivated mushrooms, or a combination, in this recipe, but I like oyster mushrooms and portobellos the best.
Preheat the oven to 400˚F
Place about 1/2 cup of flour on a plate and dredge the veal.
Heat the oil in a large oven-safe pot with a fitted lid (I use a 12-cup Le Crueset pot).
Brown the veal shanks, about 5 minutes on one side, then add the garlic cloves.
Brown the shanks for about 5 minutes on the other side, then add the onion, carrot, basil, salt and pepper to taste.
Continue browning the shanks, cooking until the onions are soft, about 5 minutes more.
Add the wine, lower the heat to low and cook for 10 minutes, until the wine evaporates, then add the tomatoes and butter.
Cover and simmer the osso bucco for a few minutes to meld the flavors, and then place the pot in the oven. Cook for 30 minutes.
Remove the pot and add the mushrooms.
Lower the heat to 350˚F and return the pot to the oven.
Cook for another 30 minutes until the shanks are meltingly tender.
In the meantime, prepare the gremolada. Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl.
Remove the shanks and serve garnished with the gremolada.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400˚F
Place about 1/2 cup of flour on a plate and dredge the veal.
Heat the oil in a large oven-safe pot with a fitted lid (I use a 12-cup Le Crueset pot).
Brown the veal shanks, about 5 minutes on one side, then add the garlic cloves.
Brown the shanks for about 5 minutes on the other side, then add the onion, carrot, basil, salt and pepper to taste.
Continue browning the shanks, cooking until the onions are soft, about 5 minutes more.
Add the wine, lower the heat to low and cook for 10 minutes, until the wine evaporates, then add the tomatoes and butter.
Cover and simmer the osso bucco for a few minutes to meld the flavors, and then place the pot in the oven. Cook for 30 minutes.
Remove the pot and add the mushrooms.
Lower the heat to 350˚F and return the pot to the oven.
Cook for another 30 minutes until the shanks are meltingly tender.
In the meantime, prepare the gremolada. Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl.
Remove the shanks and serve garnished with the gremolada.
You lost me at veal. : ( Thought you would know better. Not very Earth or animal respecting at all.
Hi, Diana! Thank you for bringing up an important note. Veal shanks are traditionally used in this Italian recipe. However, you can substitute beef shanks if you prefer. Keep in mind beef shanks will take longer to become tender, so you will need to increase the liquid (add a cup of water or stock with the tomatoes).
There’s another option for this dish. Michael Chiarello is one of my customers. He’s a clever fellow and made Osso Bucco using turkey drumsticks. It sounds odd, but it worked well and deliciously.
There tends to be a knee jerk reaction about veal from people. Keep in mind that much of our veal is actually the result of dairy farmers thinning out the your steers from the herd. These young males will never make it into the dairy barn. If you enjoy dairy, you have to consider just how dairy farmers are to deal with young males. It is not always the cruel affair that it’s painted as.
“You lost me at veal. : ( Thought you would know better. Not very Earth or animal respecting at all.”
Seconded… you are aware that is a baby that you’re eating right? That’s cruel & sick.
Thoughts on type of mushroom? I make a wild boar shank kind of osso bucco this Thanksgiving, and I added some canned white mushrooms. It added texture, but not much in the way of flavor. I am going to retry with Black Trumpets. Thoughts on mushroom variey?
I would try dried porcini mushrooms. (Just make sure that, after you rehydrate them, to not get any grit back onto the mushrooms.)
Portobella mushrooms would be a good choice, too, I’d think, since they’d lend both meaty texture and good flavor.
“you are aware that is a baby that you’re eating right? That’s cruel & sick.”
You might want to research the age of the animals you eat. Chickens? A couple months, tops. Lamb? Less than a year.
Disliking veal because it’s “a baby” isn’t an informed stance, if you’re a consumer of meat products… 😉
p. s., veal penning will become illegal in the U. S. in 2017. At that point, the “cruelty” argument will be null. Go ahead and treat yourself to some veal! 🙂
Just made this with veal and it was great!!!