Osso buco is one of our favourite meals for a few reasons:
- Its slow cooked all day. After nearly 9 years of parenting, slow cooking food is my number one hack when it comes to smooth mealtimes. If you can get dinner on in the morning when everyone is relatively happy, or in nap time when you have some peace, the nights go so much smoother!
- Because its slow cooked, all the beautiful collagen from the bone marrow is leached through the meal, and the meat is soft and falls apart.
- This meal is high in iron and zinc, and generally packed with nutrients.
- Its really versatile – I like to make this meal and eat it over a couple of days. We generally serve it with mashed potato/cauliflower the first night, then the next night bulk it out with pasta or rice – it makes a delicious pasta sauce.
I also served this with some gremolata which just adds an incredible zesty flavour and cuts through the meat so beautifully. Gremolata is such a flavour punch.
Serves: 6
Ingredients
- 1.5-2 kg osso buco
- 1 tbsp brown onion sliced
- 3 cloves garlic finely sliced
- 1 carrot diced
- 2 stalks celery diced
Optional
- 1 eggplant diced
- 1 sprig rosemary or thyme finely chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- 800 ml passata or diced tomatoes
- 500 ml bone broth or stock
- Salt and pepper to taste
To serve
- On a bed of mashed potato/cauliflower, rice or risotto or through pasta
Method
- Preheat oven to 130c
- In a large casserole dish add the ghee over a medium-high heat and then brown off the osso buco on both sides.
- Once browned transfer the meat to a bowl to rest, and to the hot pan add the onion, garlic, celery, carrot, herbs and eggplant if using and allow to caramelise stirring occasionally.
- Add the Passata, bone broth, bay leaves to the dish and stir. Add the meat in an even layer and the resting juices. Ensure the liquid is nearly covering the meat, if not add more broth or water.
- Pop the lid on and place in the oven for around 6 hours or until the meat is falling off the bone.
- When ready – scoop the marrow out of the bones and shred the meat off. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with mashed potato or cauliflower or rice or through pasta!
