Osso Buco - the ultimate 1 pot hosting meal
Impress your guests without a lot of effort
We are now in the middle of Fall which means the holidays are approaching and with that comes many gatherings and dinner parties → thus lots of food and cooking.
If you happen to have an upcoming dinner party or you just want to treat your family, friends (or yourself, because you deserve it!!!!) I have the PERFECT recipe for you. Braised Osso Buco - this is a classic Italian comfort meal of cozy slow braised veal shanks that literally fall of the bone and are coated in a rich & unctuous tomato based sauce. To liven it up at the end, it is topped with a fresh and zest gremolata made with garlic, parsley and lemon zest. When serving, I LOVE it with mashed potatoes or polenta but really any starch that’ll absorb some sauce will do!
Why is this the perfect hosting dish?
Hosting and cooking can be stressful. There are so many things to worry about: cooking, setting the table, cleaning the mess you make cooking, getting yourself ready, preparing beverages and much much more!! So while this dish does take a few hours to cook, you only need about 30 minutes of active cooking to bring it together. PLUS you can make it ahead of time and just warm it up as guests arrive. This means that while its working its magic in the oven, you can use that time to get everything else ready — prepare side dishes/apps/dessert, clean up the kitchen, get dressed and more. Then, when your guests arrive they can enter into the beautiful aroma of a home cooked meal and all you have to do is plate and serve it!!
“While its working its magic in the oven, you can use that time to get everything else ready”
Now without further to do…..here is the recipe:
Braised Osso Buco with Gremolata
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 15-20 minutes
Total time: 3 hours 40 minutes
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients
4 veal shanks , can sub for beef or oxtail if needed
4 oz pancetta, diced into 1/4 inch cubes
4 medium-sized veal shanks (2-3 inches thick) ***Can sub for beef, pork or lamb shanks or ox tail
1 medium onion, small dice
2 stalks celery, small dice (1/2 cup)
1 medium sized carrot, small dice (1/2) cup
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 cups tomato puree
2-3 cups chicken stock
3 sprigs thyme
3 sprigs parsley
1 bay leaf
Gremolata
1 tbsp garlic, finely minced
2 tbsp lemon zest
1 tbsp parsley, finely minced
Steps
Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
Add pancetta to a cold large dutch oven then place over medium low heat. Allow it to render fat and fry up until golden brown.
In the meantime, salt and pepper the shanks and then lightly flour each piece on both sides.
Remove the cooked pancetta from the pot and place on a paper towel lined dish. Sear the shanks until golden on both sides in the rendered pancetta fat, about 3-5 min per side.
While the shanks are getting seared, chop your mire poix (onion, celery, carrots + garlic.) Remove the seared shanks from the pot onto a plate and add in the onions, celery and carrots. Saute for about 5 minutes, until they begin to soften. Add in the garlic and cook for another minute, until fragrant.
Deglaze the pot with white wine using a wooden spoon to scrape off fond from the bottom of the pot. Add the tomato puree and stock, simmer for 5 minutes. Slip the shanks & pancetta back into the pot (they should be covered by the sauce…add more stock if necessary.) Add the thyme, parsley and bay leaf. Bring up to a boil, reduce to a simmer then cover the pot and place into the oven for about 3 hours or until the meat pulls away from the bone.
Make the gremolata while the shanks cook. Combine chopped garlic, parsley and lemon zest in a small bowl.
Serve the shanks over your starch of choice with an extra scoop of sauce and finish with a sprinkle of the gremolata.
***EDIT — highly requested, here is the PDF Printout:
Have a question?! Feel free to message me!! I am always happy to help :) Also, if you make the recipe PLEASE send me a photo and tag me on social media if you share it. Seeing you guys remake my recipes brings me SO much joy ❤️❤️
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND :)
I made this for Canadian thanksgiving today (with a few adjustments based on what I had on hand - used eye of round roast, red wine instead of white, and toasted garlic slivers with lemon zest for the topping since I didn’t have any fresh herbs) and it was incredible!!!! Took my normal cooking to restaurant quality. Thank you!!
Can’t wait to try this!