When you can’t get to Milan, you can try this at home.
Anabel de la Grange
Serve saffron rissoto, rice or arugola salad with these delectable veal shanks.
Osso Buco alla Milanese
For four (approx. 800 cal per person)
Prepare a bouquet garni:
2 dry bay leafs
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 sprigs fresh thyme
tie up with twine
Prepare a gremolata:
10 sprigs of parsley minced
1 tablespoon lemon zest (approx. one lemon)
½ a clove of garlic minced
Ingredients:
4 ossibuchi (veal shanks), about 12 ounces each
½ cup olive oil
12 oz. dry white wine
3 cups chicken stock
1 large onion thinly sliced
2 small carrots diced into ½-inch cubes
1 stalk celery, chopped finely
1 tablespoon tomato paste dissolved in ½ cup water
all-purpose flour for dredging
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
Pat dry the veal shanks with a paper towel. Tie up each shank with twine.
Season the shanks with salt & pepper and dredge them in flour, shaking off excess.
In a large Dutch oven pot or a large casserole heat olive oil until smoking. Add tied-up veal shanks to the hot pan and brown them without moving them for 3 to 5 minutes. Make sure that the wide marrow openings are down. Flip the shanks over and brown the other side. Remove brown shanks and reserve.
Add the sliced onion to the pot and stir until golden brown. Add olive oil if necessary.
Add the carrots and celery. Season with salt & pepper. Sauté over medium heat (about 10 minutes). Add the tomato paste and stir well. Return shanks to the pot. Add the white wine and cook gently until the liquid is almost completely dried out. Add the bouquet garni and 2 cups of the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduced heat to low, cover pan, and simmer for about 1 ½ hours or until the veal is coming off the bone, moving the shanks around to prevent them from sticking and basting them, adding more chicken stock if necessary. The level of cooking liquid should always be about ¾ the way up the shanks. Do not turn them over lest the marrow dissolve and run out.
Five minutes before serving, stir half the gremolata into the pot. Carefully place the osso buco onto a warm serving dish, cut off the twine and discard. Remove the bouquet garni from the pot and discard. Pour the sauce from the pot over the shanks. Sprinkle on the rest of the gremolata.
Some serve osso buco with a risotto alla Milanese but simple rice or an arugula salad works well too.
Drink with a full-bodied red, such as Sangiovese, Barolo, or Brunello di Montepulciano.
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