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Ossobuco
Taste the traditional dishes of Milano
Ossobuco (marrowbone) is a typical delicacy of Milanese cuisine and is often served on a bed of yellow Risotto alla Milanese.
The name comes from ossbus, which means a ‘bone with a hole’ in the local dialect and refers to the cut of veal that is used: a slice of the shin in which the round section of bone is surrounded by tender meat. The bone is filled with tasty marrow that can be scooped out with a spoon or the customary tool, a small scooper, which is referred to with some irony as the esattore (tax collector).
The recipe for ossobuco, which is lightly coated in flour before being placed in the pan to fry, appeared in cookbooks as early as the 18th century. Over the centuries it has been elaborated and modified in a variety of ways, such as with the addition of tomato sauce.
An essential ingredient to this dish is the gremolada, a finely-ground paste of garlic, lemon peel and parsley, added just before serving for an extra dash of colour and taste.
Other variants include side dishes such as peas, carrots, beans, mashed potatoes, or the addition of diced bacon to the butter and onion in which the meat is fried. Ossobuco is also a good match with polenta, another staple of Lombard cuisine.
Ingredients – Serves 4
- 4 slices of veal shank, 4 cm thick, cut low down where the bone is small and only filled with marrow - not spongy bone (approx. 300 g each)
- White flour
- 50 g butter
- ¼ chopped onion
- A ladle of broth
- A very small fresh tomato peeled and finely chopped or the tip of a teaspoon of tomato puree (not essential)
- Salt
For the “gremolada”:
- Grated rind of one lemon
- Half a clove of garlic (not essential)
- A boned anchovy
- A handful of chopped parsley
In a wide pan, sautee the onion in the butter. Add the lightly floured shanks and brown on both sides, turning them without piercing the meat.
Add a little broth, the tomato (a tiny amount as, unlike other Italian regional cuisines, Milano held out for some time against its introduction), and salt.
Cover the pan and simmer slowly for about an hour and a half until the meat has a slightly glazed appearance.
Five minutes before serving, add the gremolada. Mix well and serve with Milanese risotto.
