The husband loves meat and had asked me to make a meat dish for dinner. As I was a bit under the weather, I opted for a one pot meal. Just throw all the ingredients in the pot and leave it on the stove top for few hours. The end result is a moist and flavourful pot of stew. Since I have a few pieces of osso bucco lying in the fridge, that will be our dinner.
Osso bucco is Italian for “bone with a hole” referring to the bone marrow in the center of a cross-cut veal shank. This is a Milanese specialty which is stewed with vegetables, white wine and broth. They are traditionally serve with saffron risotto and garnished with gremolata, a mix of parsley, garlic and lemon peel.
From what I gathered, the osso bucco that I made is the modern version which has tomatoes in it. Slow cooking the meat for few hours ensures tenderness, the meat fall off the bone easily. I paired the dish with mashed potatoes minus the gremolata for a simple weeknight dinner. While it may contain a number of ingredients, it is quite simple to make and produces an outstanding result, perfect for dinner parties.
Osso Bucco
Ingredients
4 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1 onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely diced
1 celery stalk, finely diced
4 cloves garlic
4 pcs osso bucco
¾ cup dry red wine
1 cup beef stock
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 cup water
4 bay leaves
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
Sea salt and black pepper
1. Heat half of the oil and half of the butter. Add the onion, carrot, celery, rosemary and bay leaf and cook for 15-20 minutes until lightly golden. Remove the vegetables and set aside.
2. Add remaining oil and butter, cook veal for 3-4 minutes each side until well browned.
3. Add the vegetables back to the pan and gradually add stock, wine and water, scraping the bottom of the pan. Cook for 1-2 minutes.
4. Add tomatoes and stir to combine. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 1.5 hours.
5. Remove the lid and cook for another 30-45 minutes until meat is very tender.
6. Season with salt and pepper.
7. Serve with mashed potato, polenta or risotto if desired.
As with most stew, the flavour will improves with time. Try making it one day ahead for next day dinner.
If you want to impress your friends or loved ones, this is the dish to make 🙂 Simple and delish!!
Enjoy!
missus C 