Osso Buco (MY Version!)

Osso Buco (MY version)

You salt and pepper then lightly coat 4 to 6 veal shank cuts in flour and sear them 2 to 3 at a time in an iron skillet preheated on medium heat with a melted/heated pat of butter for 3 min on the first side and then 2 min on the other side , set veal aside, drain the skillet of grease but keep any cracklings, add a fresh pat of butter or a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and when melted/heated add the veggies (diced Roma tomatoes, sliced/diced celery, thin sliced/diced onion, minced garlic. seasonings) and sauté until tender, increase the heat and stir in a bay leaf, 1 small can of tomato paste, and ½ cup white wine and then allow to reduce (about 3 to 6 minutes) to make the sauce, SUPPOSED to strain the sauce to remove all the solids/veggies (but I prefer to set aside solids/veggies and only toss out the bay leaf), put the veal shanks back in and turn to coat well with the sauce, then put iron skillet in the oven to finish cooking the veal at 375 F just until tender when tested with a fork (about 1 hr 45 to 50 min or so), then if desired may serve it with the reserved strained off veggies on top (or to the side if prefer) or stir them back into the sauce (although they are normally thrown out). Sometimes I’ll just leave them in the sauce rather than remove them at all but use my hand held emulsifier blender to puree them or I will puree them back into the sauce after it comes out of the oven, but if someone doesn’t have one of those could do it in blender or food processor.

SUPPOSED to add anchovy paste to the sauce (YUCK! GROSS!) but I don’t do that! After it comes out of the oven I’ll sometimes stir into the remaining sauce just one drained can sweet green peas with pearl onions after warming it up in sauce pan on stove top or in the microwave first and serve it on the side … especially if just for two people. Otherwise, goes well a side of salad, green peas, mashed potatoes, rice, polenta, glazed carrots, baked potato, asparagus, etc.

Can’t afford or get veal shanks? Works nicely with boneless skinless chicken breasts too! They just don’t take anywhere near as long to sear or bake! 😊