Osobuco Milanesa. What a recipe today, an Osobuco Milanesa super easy to prepare and that is rich, delicious.
But before getting into the subject you may not know that it is an ossobuco so first things first 😉
The ossobuco is a cross section (a slice) of the veal shank keeping the bone (look at the photo). Its name comes from the Italian Ossobuco or Osso buco, which means bone with a hole (that hole is where the marrow is) and it is a traditional Italian dish, especially in Milan.
It is not too common to find this cut of meat but any butcher can prepare it for you if you notify it in advance, you just have to tell him to cut a hock into slices between 2 and 3 fingers thick (between 4 and 5 centimeters) and that's it. .
Apart from this, all the other ingredients are very easy to find (celery, carrots, onion, ...) and as we are also going to make the baked ossobuco it is super easy to prepare and the result I promise is spectacular, super tender and delicious! !
By the way, you can accompany it with a Milanese risotto, polenta or simply with French fries and you will have guaranteed success!
Do you dare with the recipe? Well, you know ... to the kitchen!
Ingredients for 4 people:
- 4 veal ossobucos (bone-in shank slices)
- 200 grams of tomato crushed (it can be natural grated or canned)
- 1 large onion (about 200-250 grams)
- 2 carrots
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 2 celery stalks (if they are large only one, about 50 grams)
- 125 ml of white wine (half a glass)
- 250 ml of meat or chicken broth (one glass)
- 2 tablespoons of wheat flour (normal)
- 25 grams of butter
- 6 tablespoons of olive oil
- Salt
- ground black pepper
- dried rosemary
- 2 bay leaves
RECIPE:
- First of all we are going to prepare the vegetables. Wash the celery well and cut it into very small pieces. Do the same with the onion, carrot and mince the garlic very finely.
- Season the osobucos and then pass them through a plate with flour. Shake to release excess flour and set aside.
- Take a large skillet and add the olive oil. When hot brown the osobucos on both sides (better do it in batches). Place the osobucos in a casserole or oven-safe dish and reserve.
- In the same pan where we have made the osobucos we add the butter and the vegetables that we have chopped. Also add a pinch of dried rosemary (just a pinch) and a couple of bay leaves. Leave over medium heat until the onion becomes very soft.
- When the onion is ready add the crushed tomato and turn up the heat. Let the tomato lose all the water and sauté for a few minutes.
- When we have the tomato well fried, add the white wine and let it reduce a little.
- Then add the broth and mix well. It is time to taste the salt and add until it is to our liking, a little black pepper also came in handy.
- Put the oven at 200ºC with heat up and down (if it is with a fan, put it at 180ºC).
- When the mixture of broth and sauce is hot, add it over the ossobucos. Cover the casserole or dish with aluminum foil and put in the oven for 2 hours.
- You can check every 45-60 minutes to see how the cooking is going, in case your oven is very strong and the broth reduces very soon. But the normal thing is that after 2 hours the meat is tender and there is still a lot of broth around it (keep in mind that the meat releases a lot of water and being covered it is little reduced). The best thing in this case is to remove the casserole from the oven (be careful!) And put it on the fire until it reduces and a thick sauce is formed (look at the photo). If the casserole or source is not suitable to put on the fire or the vitro, you can leave the meat in the oven for a longer time until the sauce is reduced somewhat. And voila… get out of the kitchen and eat !!!!
NOTES:
- If you don't have broth you can use water although in this case the sauce will lose a hint of flavor.
- It is important to put the ossobuco in the oven with the hot broth, otherwise the broth will take a long time to heat up and the cooking can take up to three hours.
- If you don't want to cook it in the oven, you can leave the meat in a well covered pan over the fire. In this case, add twice the meat and make sure it does not stay dry until it is soft. At that time you can uncover and reduce the sauce well.
- IMPORTANT: if the slices are very small (those closest to the hoof are the thinnest) you may have to add an extra slice.
As I mentioned before, you can choose between different types of fittings but without a doubt the one I like the most is the Polenta, which is like a mashed potato but with corn flour and is delicious when you pour the ossobuco sauce on top.
A little rice is also good as a side, especially a Risotto. Of course, as the sauce has so much flavor, it is not worth complicating making a mushroom risotto for example, since the flavors would cover each other. It is better to prepare a simple risotto and according to account Antonio Carlucicio in his book "Two Italians between Stoves", the one that best suits you is the Risotto a la Milanesa, which is nothing more than a basic risotto (butter, broth, white wine and Parmesan) to which a little saffron is added to give it color and flavor. It is very simple, but it comes with pearls to accompany this ossobuco in sauce.
Of course you can also put a little boiled white rice that although it is not close to the Risotto a la Milanesa is a healthier and faster alternative to make if you are short on time.
And if you want to throw for the most easy prepare some potatoes, fried or baked and voila!
By the way, it is very common to finish this ossobuco in sauce with a Gremolata or Gremolada which is a mince of parsley, garlic, orange zest and / or lemon zest. It is a way to add more flavor to the dish but when a dish is as rich as this one, I don't see the need to add anything else and I don't put it on at home. Also, if they are going to eat it at home, the children may notice the gremolata and not like it so much.
One last thing, the inside of the bone can be eaten, is the marrow and for many it is an exquisite dish. I have less refined tastes and I prefer to eat only what surrounds the bone 🙂
And that's all for today. If you prepare the recipe at home, do not stop telling me how you stayed by writing a comment 😉
Greetings kitchen !!!