OSSO BUCCO
SERVES 4 PREP 20 MINS COOK UP TO 3 HOURS
½ cup plain flour
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground white pepper
4 veal osso bucco (about 1.2kg)
3 tbsp oil
2 carrots, diced into 1cm pieces
3 celery stalks, cut in half lengthways, cut into 1cm pieces
2 onions, diced
4 garlic cloves, chopped
¼ cup tomato paste
1½ cups white wine
1½ cups veal or beef stock
800g tin chopped tomatoes
2 bay leaves
GREMOLATA
½ cup flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped 1 tbsp finely grated lemon zest
¼ tsp cracked black pepper
1 Preheat oven to 150°C.
2 Combine flour, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Coat osso bucco in flour. Be careful to shake off excess flour, otherwise it will burn in pot. Reserve excess seasoned flour to add to sauce. 3 Heat 1 tbsp oil in an enamel casserole pot over a medium-high heat. Brown 2 osso bucco until golden, and transfer to a plate. Repeat with remaining 2 pieces. Make sure you get a good golden colour as this will be important for the flavour. If there is any burnt flour in pot after this process, carefully wipe it out with a paper towel.
4 Reduce heat to medium. Heat remaining 1 tbsp oil, add carrot, celery, onion and garlic. Saute 3-4 minutes or until onion is translucent but not brown. Add tomato paste to vegetables and saute for a further minute.
5 Into pot, add wine, stock, tomatoes and bay leaves. Add any leftover flour from coating osso bucco. Stir through.
6 Return veal to pot. Make sure it is all submerged in liquid – any meat poking out the top will be tough and dry. Put lid on pot and bake in oven 2-3 hours. Check from 2 hours onwards, and when veal is soft and falling away from the bone, it is ready.
7 When meat is cooked, if sauce needs to be thickened further, remove meat and keep under foil. Place pot on a medium-low heat on stove top and boil until sauce is as thick as you like it. Keep stirring so nothing burns.
8 GREMOLATA Combine ingredients, sprinkle over osso bucco before serving.