We suggest respecting the dish’s regional origins and pairing veal ossobuco with distinctive red wines from Lombardy, like a Bonarda or a Barbera dell’Oltrepò Pavese.
Veal ossobuco with gremolada
Ossobuco with gremolada is a typical dish in Milanese and Brianza cuisine, especially suitable for cold seasons.
Chef Danilo Angè
Difficulty: easy
Method: 10
Cooking: 75
Chef Danilo Angè
Difficulty: easy
Method: 10
Cooking: 75
Method
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01 / Prepare the meat
Eliminate excess fat
Flour meat on both sides
Heat extra virgin olive oil in a pan and add veal shanks when it is hot
Brown meat on all sides, turning shanks without pricking them
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02 / Prepare the vegetables
Peel and cut carrots and onions into small cubes
Cut celery into small cubes
Gather aromatic herbs into a bundle and tie with food twine
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03 / Cook the veal shanks
Melt butter in a pan over low heat
Add carrots, celery, onions, and herb bundle
Sauté vegetables over low heat until they are slightly browned
Add veal shanks
Cover with wine and let it evaporate
Add chopped tomatoes and pour in stock
Season with salt and pepper and cook over low heat for about an hour, adding stock little by little if the sauce seems dry
Remove from heat when meat is very soft
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04 / Prepare the gremolada
Peel lemon with a potato peeler, without removing the white pith
Wash and strip parsley and chop leaves finely
Chop sage, lemon peel, and garlic clove together with parsley
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05 / To serve
Put veal shanks on serving dishes
Cover with pan sauce and vegetables
Sprinkle with gremolada
Wine pairing
You can safely cook the veal shanks the day before, storing them in the refrigerator with their sauce. When you want to serve them, reheat them in a pan over low heat.
Do not skip the browning stage; it is indispensable for sealing the juices inside the meat, giving it that characteristic browned-meat flavour and keeping the meat
Be careful not to prick the meat with a fork or other utensil while cooking so as to avoid the juices escaping.
Do not rush the veal shanks; the meat should be extremely tender and almost melt in the mouth, so the shanks must be cooked over low heat for a long time. If you buy fore shanks or beef shanks, take into account that they will have to cook longer than veal hind shanks.
Traditional gremolada lends a touch of freshness to the veal shanks. Make sure to balance the ingredients, being especially careful not to let the garlic and lemon zest overpower the others. Then only put a little gremolada on the shanks when you plate them—no more than a sprinkling.
You can store the veal shanks in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a couple of days. They keep better when covered with their sauce, which preserves the meat’s tenderness.
If you made the ossobuco with fresh rather than defrosted meat, you can also store it in the freezer.
Ossobuco with gremolada is a typical dish in Milanese and Brianza cuisine, especially suitable for cold seasons. Veal shank is preferred to beef shank as it is more tender.
Hind shank, which is richer in marrow, is also preferable to fore shank, which has more connective tissue.
Traditionally, ossobuco is served with Milanese risotto with saffron, but it can also be found alongside polenta or mashed potatoes.
Ingredients for 4 people
For the braised veal
4 cross-cut veal hind shanks
30 g tipo 00 flour
10 g extra virgin olive oil
100 g onions
100 g carrots
100 g celery
60 g butter
1 bundle aromatic herbs (bay leaf, sage, and rosemary)
100 ml white wine
300 ml meat stock
100 g chopped tomatoes
For the gremolada
1 small clove garlic
20 g parsley
2 sage leaves
1 lemon
Wine pairing
We suggest respecting the dish’s regional origins and pairing veal ossobuco with distinctive red wines from Lombardy, like a Bonarda or a Barbera dell’Oltrepò Pavese.
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