It was a cold, August Saturday, I had a bit of time on my hands and decided to attempt the Osso Bucco. It was always one of those dishes that seemed too hard to cook, so I'd rather eat it at a restaurant, but to my surprise, it was quite easy to master.
I looked up many recipes on the web and in cook books, they were all slightly different as with most recipes, and decided to base my Osso Bucco on the Abstract Gourmet's recipe - http://abstractgourmet.com/2007/08/theres-a-buco-in-my-osso/ but added gremolata and served with lemon, saffron and parmesan risotto. Waiting for it to cook slowly for 2 hours was painful.. the delicious scent of it permeated the house! And this was one of the recipes with the least amount of cooking time! Anyway here's the recipe (serves 2)
2 pieces of osso buco -
flour for dusting
1 onion - chopped finely
3 cloves garlic - chopped finely
1 can tinned roma tomatoes
2 carrots chopped into 1cm wide rounds
Around one cup of red wine (you can add more later)
sea salt and cracked pepper.
Lightly coat the osso buco in flour, shake off any excess, then fry them in a pan with a bit of oil till they're lightly brown all over. Take out of the pan and leave aside.
Meanwhile fry up the onion and garlic with a bit of oil. Add the carrots and cook for a bit until the onion goes soft and transparent. Put the osso bucco back in the pan and make sure they are lying flat and touching the bottom of the pan. Pour in the red wine and the tin of tomatoes, add a bit of passata if you have some on hand. Make sure you have enough liquid to just cover the meat.
Turn the heat down to low so it just simmers and put the lid back on or just ajar .
Wait 2 hours or more, check it now and then to make sure there is enough liquid in the pan to just cover the meat. I poured in some more wine and vegetable stock and water. Season it with salt and pepper halfway through. I cooked it slowly in the pan for 2.5 hours, before I couldn't wait any more (my stomach was grumbling!) But Im sure it doesn't hurt to cook it for longer, it will just get softer!
While the meat was cooking, I made the Gremolata. The ingredients are:
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
just under half a cup of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
zest of 1 lemon
Mix well and sprinkle over osso bucco when its ready.
Heres the recipe for the lemon, saffron and parmesan risotto. The osso bucco and the risotto really does go hand in hand. Something about saffron...
a knob of butter
a tbsp olive oil
1 onion peeled and finely chopped
2-3 handfuls of Italian Arborio rice
2 cups of vegetable stock
a few saffron strands
salt and black pepper
juice of half a large lemon
half a cup of parmesan cheese
grated rind of 1 lemon
Add oil and onion to a saucepan on medium heat. Cook till onion is slightly transparent and add the rice with a bit of butter. Stir and cook for a couple of minutes. Add boiling vegetable stock to till it just covers the rice and drop in a few strands of saffron. Turn the heat up so the liquid is starting to bubble, then turn it down to low heat and simmer for about 20 minutes. Stir frequently until liquid is absorbed. Add more stock if the rice has absorbed all the liquid but isn't soft enough yet. When it is ready, the consistency should be that of the rice lazily falling off the spatula. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice, cheese and lemon rind, add salt and pepper to your liking. Return to heat and cook for 1 minute, stirring before serving.
Be careful taking the osso bucco out of the pan, its very soft and easily falls away from the bone.
Place it with the risotto and you have a very hearty, delicious meal! Its worth the wait :)
