Veal Osso Bucco Recipe with Gremolata: If you are looking for a delicious weeknight meal that is full of comfort then be sure to try this osso bucco recipe made with veal and served with a traditional gremolata.
You already know by now that I’m a traditionalist so when it comes to making the classics I usually just leave them alone or throw a small twist on it, and the same goes for this osso bucco recipe. Osso Bucco is traditionally made with veal, which is really the nice way of saying you are eating a baby cow, which isn’t nice to say or think about really. Regardless, it is what is and that’s how I’m going to cook it!
Osso Bucco is a dish I haven’t made in at least 10 years but man oh man is it just so comforting and good, and now that the weather is beginning to turn to fall I can’t think of a better recipe to make!
What is Osso Bucco:
Osso Bucco is traditionally an Italian dish from Milan which transfers from Italian to English as, “marrowbone.” You’ll notice when looking at an osso bucco raw there is a huge bone in the center with lots of marrow in it, which believe it or not is super good for you. Yes, I’m talking about the marrow!
Once you have your osso bucco veal shank cut, you then sear it and braise it up with vegetables, beef stock, herbs and white wine and then later traditionally serve it with a gremolata and over polenta. The most common way to braise osso bucco these days is with tomatoes, but back in the day you did not, rather you seasoned it with cinnamon, gremolata and a bay leaf. Weird I know.
You may also have noticed that I made my osso bucco recipe with red wine. Man, this is just one of those little twists that I like to put into my recipes because I feel it helps elevate the flavor. I love white wine, don’t get me wrong, but the flavors of red wine, like the Sangiovese I used, just provide another layer of depth of flavor to this osso bucco recipe so honestly it was no brainer to use it!
What is a Veal Shank:
Veal shank is the classic meat used when making an osso bucco recipe and I have to admit they are kind of hard to find and pretty dang expensive. I thought about using a beef shank, which are dirt cheap and literally be found at every local grocery store, but the traditionalist in me smacked me around and forced me to get out at 6am to the local butcher shop to pick it up. Yup, I know I’m nuts!
Veal Shanks come from the shin part of the front and hind legs and are sliced to about 1 ½ to 2 inches thick. Veal Shanks are a very lean tough cut of meat, although it comes from a young calf that is loaded with tender meat. Since they are a tough cut of meat, braising them is the best cooking method to help tenderize and infuse flavor into it, although veal has great flavor already.
How to Serve Osso Bucco:
Once your osso bucco recipe is finished braising and the meat is pulling away from the bone it is time to serve it up! Traditionally osso buccco is served up with rissoto or polenta. While I’m a huge fan of risotto ain’t nobody got time to stir a pot of rice for 45 minutes so polenta it is. If you need an amazing polenta recipe then check out mine for creamy polenta!
Osso Bucco is also classically served up with a gremolata!
What is Gremolata:
Gremolata is not only a really fun word to say, it’s actually a pretty tasty little garnish consisting of salt, lemon zest, parsley and olive oil all chopped together until it is almost like a sauce. Honestly it looks like it could be a chimichurri for all intents and purposes. Gremolata is super good, and I’ve made several variations of it myself it provides such a cool garnish to whatever it is you’re cooking.
Well that’s all I got folks, if you are looking another really good osso bucco recipe then check out this one!
Veal Osso Bucco Recipe with Gremolata
Ingredients
For the Osso Bucco:
- 1 cup of all purpose flour
- 4 8- ounce veal shanks
- 2 tablepoons of olive oil
- 1 peeled and large diced yellow onion
- 1 peeled and large diced carrot
- 2 peeled and large diced celery stalks
- 6-8 garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
- 3 cups of roughly sliced assorted tomatoes
- 2 cups of red wine Sangiovese or Barolo
- 4 cups of beef stock
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 bunch of Italian parsley
- 20 to 25 fresh thyme sprigs
- sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
For the Gremolata:
- 2 tablespoons of finely minced fresh Italian parsley
- zest of 2 lemons
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- sea salt to taste
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 325°.
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Add the flour to a bowl or a plate and season it very well with salt and pepper. Dredge the veal shanks on all sides in the flour and set aside.
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Next, heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat and sear the veal shanks until they are golden brown on all sides, about 5 to 7 minutes per side.
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Remove the veal shanks and add the onions, carrots, celery and garlic to the pot and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes before mixing in the tomato paste.
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Cook for 2 minutes and the deglaze with the wine followed up by adding in the beef stock, bay leaves, parsley, thyme and salt. Note: Make sure the liquid is seasoned very well.
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Add the veal shanks back in the pot, submerge them, place a cover of the pot and cook in the oven for 2 to 2 ½ hours or until very tender and easily removes from the bone.
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Gremolata: Mix together all of the ingredients in a small bowl and set aside until serving time.
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To Serve: serve the osso bucco and some of the sauce over top risotto or polenta and add the gremolata to the top of the veal shanks.
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What did you do with all the extra liquid? Lots of sauce but I don’t see you serving it!
It’s in there. For pictures sake I didn’t want to smother the osso bucco with it.