Osso Buco is one of the greatest date night meals in existence. It can be prepared hours ahead of time, it looks beautiful, and it is extremely rich and satisfying.
I pair mine with a base of Polenta using this classic recipe and blend up the braising liquid with an immersion blender to create a rich savory sauce which pairs beautifully with the meat.
Of course, you can serve it with mashed potatoes, or by itself, or however you want to customize it yourself.
There are three main components of this dish: The Veal Shank, The Sauce, and The Polenta. It may seem complex, but it’s an extremely easy and cheap dish to make, and hard to mess up!
What You’ll Need:
- 2 Veal Shanks about 1.5 inches thick (of course bone-in)
- 1 Yellow Onion; chopped
- 1 Can (about 400 grams more or less) of Tomatoes
- 1 Small Potato; chopped
- 1 Carrot; chopped
- 1 Cup Dry White Wine
- 4 Garlic Cloves; crushed
- 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 1 Cup Chicken Stock
- Salt; to taste
- Black Pepper; to taste
- 3-4 Tbsp AP Flour
- 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 Tbsp Butter
Osso Buco Instructions:
1. Osso Buco is actually quite a bit easier than most people realize. Most of the time is just spent waiting around for the meat to braise in liquid. To begin, take your bone-in veal shanks, and pat them dry with a paper towel. In a shallow dish, mix the flour with some sprinklings of salt and black pepper. Lightly coat all sides of the meat in the flour mixture making sure to shake off any excess powder.
2. Heat up a skillet to high and add the Olive Oil. Place the Veal Shank into the pan and cook on each side, about 3 minutes. Make sure to also sear the edges by rolling the meat on its side in the pan. Place on a plate to let rest.
3. Pour out the oil (but do not clean the pan) and add lower the heat to medium. Add the butter and the chopped onion, chopped potato, and chopped carrot. Stir until the onion becomes a bit translucent and add the crushed garlic. Continue stirring for about 10 more minutes. When it looks like things are about to overcook, add the lemon juice and pour in the Dry White Wine and turn the heat back up to high.
4. After a minute or two of cooking on high, reduce back to medium and add the chicken stock and let cook for another 5 minutes. Add the can of tomatoes and let them heat up. With a potato masher, just start mashing up everything in the pan. It doesn’t need to be smooth, but you definitely want to break all the tomatoes down. Put heat on low and add a bay leaf.
5. Preheat your oven to 175 °C or about 350 Fahrenheit. In a braising dish (or a disposable aluminum baking dish) place the two veal shanks and pour over the pan liquid. Place in the oven for about 2 hours.
6. When done, remove the meat and place the liquid (sans bay leaf) into a bowl. With an immersion blender, liquefy everything, and pour next to the Osso Buco on the plate when serving.
Polenta:
As the polenta only takes about 40 minutes, you can make this near the end of the Osso Buco braising time. The recipe is here, but I’ve also included it below so you can pair the meat with the Polenta.
POLENTA INGREDIENTS:
1 cup Cornmeal
2 cups Chicken Stock + 2 cups water
1/2 cup Parmegiano Reggiano; grated
Salt; to taste
2 tbsp Butter
POLENTA INSTRUCTIONS:
1. In a pot on the stove, add the liquid and salt (I don’t use salt as my chicken stock is quite salty, but if you just use water then add a pinch of salt to the water.) and wait for it to boil. Once boiling take a whisk and stir the liquid somewhat fast. Slowly put in the cornmeal while stirring constantly. This will keep the polenta from getting clumply and allow you to have smooth, rich, creamy polenta when you are done. Reduce heat to medium and stir for about 5 minutes until the cornmeal looks like it’s equal to the water.
2. Reduce the heat to low and cover the pot. You don’t need to keep stirring all the time, you can let it rest and just mix it up every 5 minutes or so. After about a half hour your polenta should be basically done. Mix in the butter and when the butter is melted in there, mix in the cheese. Take off the heat and allow to sit for 5-10 minutes before plating and serving. In this case, place a dollop of Polenta on the plate, place the Osso Buco right on top, and spoon some of the Osso Buco pan sauce around the edge.
Notes:
The Traditional Osso Buco is served with a Gremolada, which is basically a mix of parsley, lemon, and garlic served atop the meat. I didn’t include it in this recipe, as I feel it clashes with the Polenta, but if you wanted you could totally add it right before serving.
Osso Buco
Ingredients
- 2 Bone-In Veal Shanks 1.5 Inches Thick
- 1 Yellow Onion chopped
- 1 Carrot Chopped
- 1 Small Potato Chopped
- 4 cloves garlic crushed
- 1 can (400 grams) Tomatoes
- 1 cup Dry White Wine
- 1 tbsp Lemon Juice
- 1 cup Chicken Stock
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 3-4 Tbsp AP Flour
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp Butter
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Osso Buco is actually quite a bit easier than most people realize. Most of the time is just spent waiting around for the meat to braise in liquid. To begin, take your bone-in veal shanks, and pat them dry with a paper towel. In a shallow dish, mix the flour with some sprinklings of salt and black pepper. Lightly coat all sides of the meat in the flour mixture making sure to shake off any excess powder.
- Heat up a skillet to high and add the Olive Oil. Place the Veal Shank into the pan and cook on each side, about 3 minutes. Make sure to also sear the edges by rolling the meat on its side in the pan. Place on a plate to let rest.
- Pour out the oil (but do not clean the pan) and add lower the heat to medium. Add the butter and the chopped onion, chopped potato, and chopped carrot. Stir until the onion becomes a bit translucent and add the crushed garlic. Continue stirring for about 10 more minutes. When it looks like things are about to overcook, add the lemon juice and pour in the Dry White Wine and turn the heat back up to high.
- After a minute or two of cooking on high, reduce back to medium and add the chicken stock and let cook for another 5 minutes. Add the can of tomatoes and let them heat up. With a potato masher, just start mashing up everything in the pan. It doesn’t need to be smooth, but you definitely want to break all the tomatoes down. Put heat on low and add a bay leaf.
- Preheat your oven to 175 °C or about 350 Fahrenheit. In a braising dish (or a disposable aluminum baking dish) place the two veal shanks and pour over the pan liquid. Place in the oven for about 2 hours.
- When done, remove the meat and place the liquid (sans bay leaf) into a bowl. With an immersion blender, liquefy everything, and pour next to the Osso Buco on the plate when serving.
