Osso Buco Milanese is one of the most flavourful dishes you can imagine using very simple ingredients.
No special ingredients or spices to speak of - okay- except for the veal shanks! You probably have many of them in your pantry or can easily pick them up.
The dish builds flavour by searing the veal shanks. Those veal shanks, by the way have, marrow in the middle which serves to add lots of flavour.
A bit of wine, a few spices and slow roasting the veal with vegetables and tomatoes builds layer upon layer of flavour.
And the good news? You can certainly cook and serve this dish the same day but this is one of those recipes that may actually be better the second day. So bonus- you can make it a day ahead and then you only have to reheat it, mix up the gremolata and serve.
That alone makes this a great choice for entertaining, let alone that it is absolutely delicious!
Osso Buco Milanese is typically served with Risotto Milanese, which is saffron seasoned risotto. I definitely have that on my list to try one day but this time I chose to serve it with Lemon Zucchini Risotto which was amazing with the tomato sauce and gremolata.
Wine Pairing for Osso Buco Milanese
You can easily go red or white with this dish.
For whites a dry medium-bodied Italian works well. I used Falanghina in the dish and served it at the table as well. A Lugana or Soave would also be a good choice. A Chenin Blanc or white Bordeaux would also work.
On the red spectrum a Barbera is a perfect match coming from the same area. A Pinot Noir would also work. Chianti would also be a good choice.
Osso Buco Milanese With Gremolata
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Save Print Pin FacebookIngredients
Veal
- 4 1-2" veal shanks
- salt and pepper for seasoning
- ¼ cup flour
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 medium onions finely chopped
- 1 stalk celery finely diced
- 1 medium carrot finely diced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano or 2 tsps fresh, minced
- ¾ cup dry white wine
- 2 Tbsps tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 29 oz canned, whole tomatoes
- 1 cup low sodium chicken broth a bit more may be necessary
- 1 sprig fresh thyme or ½ teaspoon dried
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
Gremolata
- 3 tablespoon fresh parsley minced
- 1 large clove garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest finely grated
- 2 anchovy fillets minced, or (anchovy paste -see pkg for equivalents)
Instructions
Veal
- Make sure your veal shanks have twine tied around them so they don't fall apart while braising. (If they didn't come with twine, tie it on securely now.)
- Heat oven to 350°.
- Salt and pepper both sides of veal shanks and dredge them through the flour in a dish.
- Heat 3 Tbsps olive oil in a Dutch oven on the stove top.
- Add the veal shanks in one layer and brown them over high heat about 3 minutes per side. Transfer veal to a platter.
- Lightly wipe residue out of the pan but make sure to leave any browned bits on the bottom. Heat the butter and remaining tablespoon olive oil over medium heat.
- Add the onion, celery, carrots and oregano. Cook about 15 minutes.
- While vegetables are cooking, drain the tomatoes, reserving the juice. Roughly chop the whole canned tomatoes.
- Increase the heat to medium high and add the wine. Scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of pot. Cook 3-5 minutes until wine has reduced to ¼ cup. Stir in the tomato paste.
- Return the veal shanks to the pot.
- Add the tomatoes, tomato juice, broth, thyme, bay leaf.
- Add ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper.
- Increase heat and bring the sauce to a boil. Cover tightly with foil or lid and transfer Dutch oven to the oven.
- Braise for 1 ½ hours. Check mid way to see ifyou need to add more broth. Liquid should come halfway up the side of the shanks. Add more broth as needed.
- Remove Dutch oven and check veal for tenderness. The meat sections should be pulling part or separate easily with a fork. Cook another ½ hour if needed.
- When veal is tender, carefully transfer shanks to a plaater with a spatula so they don't fall apart completely.
- Strain the vegetable mixture and reserve the juice. Press on the vegetables to maximize juice quantity. (Hint - don't throw away those delicious braised vegetables. Add broth to them separately, remove the bay leaf and serve as a delicious soup.)
- Return the juices to the Dutch oven. Dissolve the cornstarch by shaking it in a jar with ¼ cup of the juices. Whisk the cornstarch slurry in to the juices and simmer to thicken the sauce. Return shanks to the pot.
- At this point you can mix up the Gremolata, add it to the pot, remove the twine from the shanks and serve.
- If making ahead you can cool the Dutch oven and refrigerate overnight. Reheat the veal and sauce in a 350° degree oven for 35 minutes. Mix up the Gremolata and stir it in to the sauce just before serving.
Gremolate
- Mix all the gremolata ingredients in a small dish.
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