Do You “Osso Buco”? Well I Do!
It’s one of the best looking plates I’ve made, and it happened on my first time making Osso Buco!
Here’s the recipe I followed and how it turned out!
Well, it all begins with the perfect “Veal Shanks” – which are about to become the Italian dish called “Osso Buco” – veal shanks braised with vegetables and served over polenta or mashed potatoes…and since the terrific food store “Eataly” had these beautiful shanks, I had to try and make them!
Let’s begin with the ingredients list, led by those mighty Veal Shanks!
Osso buco / Veal Shanks with bone in
One Onion – One Carrot – lots of Garlic – one stalk of Celery
You will also need:
Fresh Mushrooms – Crushed Canned Tomatoes – Beef Broth or Water
Salt – Pepper – Ground Smoky Paprika 2 tsp – Ground Turmeric 1 tsp – Dried basil 1 tsp – Bay leaf
| Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, then grab a dish that you can put directly into the oven later. Heat the olive oil and cook each side of the Osso Buco / Veal Shank for 2 to 3 minutes…they will look like this before and after you flip them: |
| Set the meat on a plate and sauté chopped onion in the same oil for a few minutes, stirring regularly, until translucent and golden brown. Add carrots and do the same… |
Add crushed canned tomatoes, water or broth, your fresh mushrooms and then the spices that give it a pop: salt, freshly ground pepper, ground paprika, turmeric and dried basil.
Simmer it for a few minutes, taking time to stir everything in, then it’s time to put the Veal Shank back into the pot and put the entire thing in the oven…oh, this already smells REALLY GOOD!
While the Veal Shanks are cooking in the oven, time to make some sauce, and for that, you need the greenest parsley you’ve ever cooked with:
First, grate some lemon zest into a bowl…I say it’s a matter of taste, but I really enjoy the tart nature of the grated skin:
It’s very simple: just fresh parsley chopped up with lemon zest, lemon, olive oil, salt and pepper…oh, and I made mashed potatoes for the base of the dish – except my wife didn’t want carbs, so she got a cauliflower mash:
Now, it ws time to take the Osso Buco out of the oven – my wife Alex was happy to film the moment, and listen for her reaction to the dish when revealed:
Remember that those shanks have a big bone in the middle, and that’s filled with bone marrow – a delicious bonus!
Now, time to plate the dish:
Of course, every cooking effort is filled with mistakes and missteps, and so, in the interest of full disclosure, I have this clip of me cleaning the plate before I serve it – Alex offering up commenting along the way:
OK, now that the cleanup is done, simply put some of your parsley topping on and here is what you can sit down and devour:
The Osso Buco itself was delicious: tender, falling off the bone – and the cooked vegetables were a nice creamy addition, with the fresh bite of the parsley and lemon zest to give it a pop at the end…
As I said, the bone marrow was easily scooped out and it was delicious as well!
I’ve been doing more cooking during this pandemic, and it led me to someone you may even know was a food connoisseur:
That’s right: Vincent Price! He and his wife Mary released multiple cookbooks, filled with their favorite dishes, including secret recipes from some of their favorite restaurants!
I cooked from his terrific book as the first dish in my “52 In 22” cooking challenge – which wraps up in two weeks! See how I launched the year in food by clicking here:
Of course, I’ve done a “dinner and a movie” thing with Vincent Price as well, and I also did that this year to celebrate the latest “Downton Abbey” film:
Yes, this was my “Seafood Newburg” dish – click here to see all of the ingredients and how it turned out:
Hope this made you hungry!
Food and Hollywood have a very long relationship – and here’s a legendary restaurant that’s been part of both for more than 100 years!
Musso & Frank serves the best food in town to the biggest stars in the world!
See why by clicking only story here:
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Let me know if you are going to try Osso Buco – and if you like this story, please share on social media – thanks!
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It looks absolutely delicious..did you use veal or lamb shanks? 🙂
That looks delicious, John. I often used to order that in Italian restaurants, as they still use Veal shanks.
Best wishes, Pete.
Thanks Pete – Veal would be great!
Hi John, this really looks superb. Well done.