Tremendous Osso Buco
Prep
25m
Cook
150m
Total
175m
Bigly says
Osso buco. OSSO BUCO. We are entering the big leagues now. The biggest leagues. An old Italian woman cornered me once at a market in Milan — true story, she didn't ask, she just grabbed my sleeve with a grip like a vise — and she made me promise to do it this way, the way her mother did it, the way HER mother did it, all the way back, and she was a tough woman, she could've benched a small sedan without breaking a sweat. I made the promise. I keep the promise. That's the kind of integrity you get here and absolutely nowhere else.
Osso buco means 'bone with a hole,' which is the most LITERAL name for a dish ever invented and I respect it. The Italians, they don't mess around with the names. They look at a piece of veal shank with a marrow bone in the middle and they say, 'That is a bone with a hole.' Done. Beautiful. We could learn from this. Other cuisines name their food like a fragrance — 'Whisper of the Sea,' 'Garden Embrace,' total nonsense, what is it, who knows, you have to ASK the waiter, embarrassing — and meanwhile the Italians are saying 'bone, hole, eat.' Direct. Honest. The best.
The secret to this osso buco is the gremolata. The gremolata at the end. Lemon zest, parsley, garlic. Raw. On top. That little BRIGHT BOMB on top of the dark rich braise. It wakes the dish up. It makes the dish stand up and SALUTE. Without it you have great osso buco. With it you have TREMENDOUS osso buco. Most cookbook authors bury the gremolata at the bottom of the ingredient list like it's an afterthought — it's NOT an afterthought, it's the entire point, they don't get it, they never did. There's a difference. Hands down.
Ingredients
- 4 pieces, about 1.5 inches thickveal shanks, cross-cut(ask the butcher to tie them with kitchen twine to hold the shape)
- 2 tsp, dividedkosher salt
- 1 tspblack pepper
- 1/2 cup, for dredgingall-purpose flour
- 3 tbspolive oil
- 2 tbspunsalted butter
- 1 largeyellow onion, finely diced
- 2 mediumcarrots, finely diced
- 2 stalkscelery, finely diced
- 4 clovesgarlic, minced
- 2 tbsptomato paste
- 1.5 cupsdry white wine
- 1 (28 oz) canwhole peeled tomatoes, crushed by hand
- 2 cupslow-sodium chicken or beef broth
- 4fresh thyme sprigs
- 2fresh rosemary sprigs
- 2bay leaves
- 1/4 cupfresh parsley, finely chopped(for the gremolata)
- from 1 large lemonlemon zest(for the gremolata)
- 1 clovegarlic, minced(for the gremolata)
Steps
- 1
Preheat the oven to 325°F.
- 2
Pat the veal shanks dry with paper towels. Season generously on both sides with 1.5 tsp of the salt and the pepper. Dredge in flour, shaking off the excess.
- 3
Heat the olive oil and butter in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sear the shanks 4-5 minutes per side until deeply browned. Work in batches if needed — do not crowd the pan. Transfer to a plate.
- 4
Reduce heat to medium. Add the onion, carrots, and celery to the pot and cook 8 minutes, stirring, until softened and golden at the edges.
- 5
Stir in the minced garlic and tomato paste and cook 2 minutes until the paste darkens.
- 6
Pour in the wine and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Simmer 3-4 minutes to reduce by half.
- 7
Add the crushed tomatoes, broth, thyme, rosemary, bay leaves, and the remaining 1/2 tsp salt. Bring to a gentle simmer.
- 8
Nestle the shanks back into the pot in a single layer — the liquid should come about two-thirds of the way up the meat. Cover with the lid slightly ajar.
- 9
Transfer to the oven and braise for 2 to 2.5 hours, turning the shanks halfway through, until the meat is fork-tender and pulling away from the bone.
- 10
While the shanks braise, make the gremolata: combine the chopped parsley, lemon zest, and minced garlic in a small bowl. Cover and set aside.
- 11
Carefully transfer the shanks to a serving platter. Discard the bay leaves and herb stems from the sauce. If the sauce is thin, simmer it on the stovetop 5-10 minutes to reduce. Taste and adjust salt.
- 12
Spoon the sauce over the shanks. Shower generously with gremolata and serve immediately, with risotto Milanese, polenta, or mashed potatoes.
One more thing
This is a SUNDAY dish. This is a 'cancel your plans, put on real pants, light a candle' dish. You make this on a slow afternoon, you fill the house with the smell of it, the neighbors come knocking, the dog won't leave the kitchen, and when you finally sit down to eat it, the entire week melts off you. And the marrow — push it out of the bone with a little spoon, spread it on toast, your knees will buckle, it's a religious experience. Two and a half hours of braising for thirty seconds of pure transcendence per bite. Save me a piece.
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