Ossobuco alla Milanese

Veal shin braised whole with no tomato, finished with raw gremolata.

Beef, Veal, Fish. Not vegetarian — contains beef, chicken broth, fish, veal.

Ingredients

• 4 thick slices veal shin, 4 cm, with the marrow bone
• 40 g plain flour
• 60 g butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 250 ml dry white wine
• 400 ml light veal or chicken broth
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 teaspoons salt
• butcher's string
• gremolata, as on its own page

Method

1. TIE A LENGTH OF STRING ROUND THE CIRCUMFERENCE of each slice. Veal shin is held together by one ring of connective tissue and without the string it falls into pieces and the marrow escapes in the first half hour.
2. Flour the slices lightly on the cut faces only.
3. Brown them in the butter and oil, 4 minutes a side, until properly coloured, then lift them out.
4. Soften the onion in the same fat, add the wine, and reduce it by half.
5. Return the shins standing UPRIGHT, bone vertical, so the marrow stays in. Add broth to come two thirds up and the bay leaf.
6. NO TOMATO. The Milanese version is pale, and tomato turns it into a different and much louder braise.
7. Cover and cook at 150C for 2 hours, basting twice. Then add the gremolata — made separately, raw, and never cooked — in the last FIVE minutes, and serve with a narrow spoon for the marrow.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Italy · All recipes