Introduction
If you purchase a beef share from Melvin Hill Meats, you will likely receive a cut called Ossobuco ("bone with a hole").
That's the traditional Italian name for the cut, which hints at how you should cook it: the way the Italians do. The descriptive name is "Cross-Cut Beef Shank," which tells you more about where the cut comes from: from the shank (think, calf/shin part of your leg). Cross cutting exposes the marrow so your end result is fork tender beef around the bone with creamy, buttery, slightly crisped marrow in the center, perfect for spreading on crispy bread or mixing in with a bite of risotto as a side.
We like cooking it in the Milanese style. Traditionally, Ossobuco Milanese uses veal beef shank, but mature beef shank ends up just as tender after a long braise and has a deeper flavor. This dish a beautiful example of how delicious food need not be fancy or labor intensive. Here is a simple recipe to get you going.
Some tips for success
- Be patient with your soffrito. Where I'm from in Louisiana, we call it the "holy trinity", in Italian it's "soffrito." Soffrito is made by very gently simmering finely chopped celery, carrot, and onion for 10-15 minutes until soft and almost melting away. It must be a low heat so that you don't brown the veggies, which will add a very different flavor than the gently simmered veggies. And don't just use soffrito in this recipe, but start using it anytime you want to add depth of flavor to soups, stews, sauces, etc.
- Don't skip the gremolata. It only takes a few minutes to chop fresh parsley and garlic and zest a lemon. This simple mix adds a fresh "pop" or "zing" to the finished dish.
- Salt in advance. If you can, salt the evening before or the morning of the day you plan to cook. If not, then add salt just before dredging in flour.
- Give yourself buffer time. Braising can take longer than expected. Budget in some extra time so you don't have to push off dinner or, worse, eat cooked but still tough shank.
- Keep the heat low and don't give in to the temptation to "speed up" the recipe by raising the temp. It won't work and you'll ruin your chances of enjoying spoon-tender ossobuco.
- Use wine you'd actually want to drink. And if you don't drink wine, don't skip it in the recipe -- the alcohol will cook off.
Ingredients
Note: This recipe is easily scaled up or down as long as you follow the ratios: 1:1:1 carrot:onion:celery, 2:1 stock:wine, 2:1 number of shanks:cups of stock. Don't forget: recipes are not Gospel.
- 4 Melvin Hill Meats beef shanks, fully thawed
- Flour for dredging
- Olive oil
- Salt and black pepper
- 1 carrot, finely chopped
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
- 2-4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 bay leaf
- Optional, but recommended, 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
- 2 cups of beef or chicken stock
- A few tablespoons of tomato paste
- 1 cup of dry white wine
- Gremolata (parsley, garlic, lemon zest)
Process
- Salt your beef shanks, preferably the evening before you plan to cook.
- Heat oven to 250 F.
- Heat olive oil in your braising pan/dish on the stove to medium high heat.
- Dredge salted shanks in flour to coat well and pan fry both sides in the olive oil. Set shanks aside.
- Reduce heat to low or medium-low and add the holy trinity and a sprinkle of salt to make your soffrito. Be patient. Let it gently simmer. Add more olive oil if needed after frying the shanks.
- Once the soffrito is ready, add garlic for approximately 1 minute, just until fragrant.
- Add wine, raise stove heat to medium to medium-high, and reduce the liquid, probably close to half.
- Add bay leaf, rosemary, tomato paste, and stock.
- Once the paste is fully mixed in, add the shanks back to the dish, cover, and move to the oven.
- Cook for 2-3 hours, then uncover and cook for another half hour or so. When they're ready, the shank meat will easily pull apart with a gentle tug.
- During the last bit of cooking, pan fry some bread for spreading marrow on later.
- Serve alongside risotto, pasta, or even mashed potatoes.