Summary: Ossobuco or 'osso buco' is Italian for ‘bone with a hole’. Hailing from Lombardy of Northern Italy, it is a dish perfect for a cold day. Ossobuco combines the heartiness of softened collagens and connective tissues, the rich fat from the ‘midollo’ (or marrow), and the moisture from broth, tomato sauce, and various vegetables to create an array of exquisite textures and phenomenal flavors. It is a personal favorite of mine due to the flexibility of what vegetables you can include, and it is especially delicious when combined with Florida Olive Farm’s Sicilian Datterino Tomato Sauce and topped with Hawthorne Creek Creamery's havarti cheese.

 

Ingredients:

• 4+ lbs ossobuco (cross-cut beef shanks, 2” thickness preferred)

• Olive oil for browning

• ~2-3 cups of a 1:1 mixture of chicken broth & tomato sauce

• 1 diced onion

• (optional) ½ diced green bell pepper

• (optional) 1 diced carrot

• (optional) 1 chopped eggplant

• 2 tsp salt

• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary or ½ tsp dried rosemary

• 1 tsp black pepper

• 1 tsp dry oregano

• 3-4 dry bay leaves

• (optional, for spiciness) 2 dried árbol peppers, chopped

• (optional) 1 8-oz. bag mozzarella / meltable cheese

• (optional) P, for grating over the finished dish

• Olive oil for drizzling over the top before the final sear

 

Equipment:

• Skillet or pan for browning

• Large casserole dish or dutch oven for braising

 

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven. Preheat your oven to 300 F.

2. Prepare the shanks. Remove the shanks from their packaging and dry them with paper towels. Use kitchen shears or a knife to make 2-3 vertical cuts through each shank’s outer layer of silver-skin; this will prevent the beef from shrinking and cupping during the browning.

3. Brown the beef. Preheat a skillet or pan over medium-high heat. Add a small amount of olive oil. Allow the shanks to sear for about 2 minutes per side or until golden brown. Then, remove the shanks and place them into a dutch oven or casserole dish.*

4. Prepare & add the braising liquid. Mix together 1 cup of tomato sauce, 1 cup of broth, and all of the spices. Pour the mixture over the beef in the pot or casserole dish. Then, add more 1:1 tomato sauce:broth mixture until the braising liquid is about half to two-thirds up the side of the beef.

5. Add the vegetables. Pour all the vegetables on top of the beef and distribute them evenly across the entire surface.

6. Cover & roast. If using a casserole dish, use a piece of tinfoil to tightly cover the entire tray. If using a dutch oven, simply place the lid over the top. This covered dish will slow-roast at 300 F for 3.5 – 4 hours.

7. Remove & preheat for the final browning. After about 3.5 – 4 hours of slow-roasting, the beef should be nearly or completely fork tender. If that is the case, remove the beef from the oven and turn up the temperature to 400 F. If it happens to not be the case, cook the beef covered at 30 minute increments until it has sufficiently softened.

8. Top with cheese (optional) and drizzle with olive oil. If you like cheese, add mozzarella or your favorite melting cheese until the entire contents of the ossobuco tray are completely covered. I also like adding a generous drizzle of olive oil at this point to help encourage even browning.

9. The final browning. Place the ossobuco uncovered into the oven for 20-35 minutes or until everything is browned to your preference.

10. Allow the ossobuco to cool uncovered for 15-20 minutes before eating, then enjoy!

 

Additional Notes:

• Though this recipe calls for using a skillet for the browning process, directly browning it in the pot where it will slow-braise for a few hours is definitely an option. The stuck-on bits of browning (fond) will incorporate with the braising liquid to grant it even greater flavor.

• I prefer ossobuco cut to 2” thickness, but anything greater than 1” will work.

• For scaling this recipe, I usually utilize:

  • ½ tsp salt per lb of ossobuco

  • ¼ tsp dry oregano per lb

  • ¼ tsp black pepper per lb

  • ½ sprig fresh rosemary or 1/8 tsp (a pinch) of dried rosemary per lb

  • ½ dried árbol pepper per lb

  • 1 dry bay leaf per center bone

  • ~1/2 hour more of cook time per additional pound