Ahhh Winter, we meet again you cold hearted fiend. The only cure? Socks so fluffy they would make an angel weep, selling a kidney to install underfloor heating & a deliciously slow cooked dish that not only fills your home with incredible smells, but fills your belly & wraps you in the food equivalent of your mums hug.
Now slow cooking does have some basic requirements, including a sturdy, all purpose tray that can go from stovetop to oven to table with the ease of Madonna changing her look (i.e. very easily & very fabulously) & that's where our trusty Scanpan roaster comes to the rescue every.single.time. If you scroll back through these blog posts you can see him featured in many a delicious recipe, so when the Scanpan team got in touch about us creating a recipe to showcase this sturdy & sensational beauty, our thoughts immediately leapt to something low, slow & delicious to warm your trotters & tummy....enter stage left Osso Buco!!
So roll up your cashmere throw rug that you've artfully draped around yourself, pull up your soft woollen socks and step boldly into the kitchen for this delightful winter warmer.
Slow Cooked Osso Buco with Parsley & Lemon Gremolata
Feeds: 4-6 Hungry Piglets.
Prep Time: 20 Mins. Cooking Time: 3 hours.
The Main Ingredients:
6 x Beef Osso Buco (ask your friendly local butcher if you don't see it in the window)
2 x Brown Onions
2 x Garlic Cloves
5 x Celery Sticks (10cm long each)
2 x Carrots
400g x Brown or Field Mushrooms
1 x Tin Diced Italian Tomato - (These little pigs recommend Mutti, it's just the best!)
1 x Bottle Italian Tomato Passata (Mutti Basilico is deeeelicious)
2 x Tbs Olive Oil
2 x Bay Leaves
15g x Oregano
10g x Sage
250ml x (1 Cup) Red Wine (what you do with the rest of the bottle is your business piglet)
2Tbs x Beef Stock - We used Urban Forager Beef Stock - it's AMAZING.
Salt & Cracked Black Pepper
For Serving
2 x Cups Polenta
Butter
Wedge of good parmesan cheese
15g x (small bunch) Flat leaf parsley
1 x Garlic Clove
1 x Lemon
Optional (but delicious) Brussel Sprouts/Broccoli/Potatoes
Method of exceptional deliciousness (preparation):
Finely dice your garlic cloves (2), your brown onions (2), carrots (2) & celery sticks (5) & set aside.
Thinly slice your mushrooms (400g).
Wash your bay leaves if fresh (2) & your sage & oregano (15g).
Using a paper towel, pat your osso buco steaks dry and season well with salt and pepper.
Gremolata Prep:
Prep your Gremolata (a delicious zesty topping that you sprinkle on at the verrry end piggos) by finely zesting your lemon.
Dice your one remaining garlic clove (or grating) & finely dice your parsley leaves.
Mix to combine, cover and pop back in the fridge ready for serving with a gentle whispered "see yoooo soooooon".
Heat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Method of exceptional deliciousness (cooking):
Pop a large oven tray (scanpan: heavy bottomed and absolutely stunning in every way #notbiased) on your stovetop (a heavy casserole pot will also suffice), pour in your olive oil & heat until hot to trot. Nestle in your osso buco steaks (6) & bring to sizzling. This sears the meat & renders off the fat beautifully, cook both sides until golden (don't worry about cooking through, he's got three hours in the oven to do that!)
Take out your browned meat & set aside (we'll see him later down the track so don't let him leave the building). Leave the tray on the heat with the rendered fat from the meat still in there & pour in your rainbow diced veg - (garlic, onion, celery, mushrooms & carrot) & cook, stirring frequently, until lightly golden, your onion is translucent & things are smelling GLORIOUS.
Tip in your tinned tomatoes & bottle of passata. Fill both containers to half full with water and give them a good sploosh around to get allll the tomato goodness out of the containers and pour it all into the tray. This adds the necessary liquid to slow cook for the next three hours.
Tip in your cup of red wine & perhaps depending on the time of day, tip a cup of red wine down your throat or you also could, if being classy; tip it into a nice glass for you to sip gently whilst your delicious food cooks.
Add in your beef stock (2Tbs), your bay leaves (2) sage & oregano (15g each) and gently stir through to combine everything.
Nestle the browned osso buco back into your tray of tomatoey deliciousness, cover the tray with foil & pop into your oven to gently simmer undisturbed for an hour. As you close the oven, do it with the air of someone who has just set up a very nice surprise for someone later (side note: that surprised person will be you).
Check after an hour how the liquid to meat/veg ratio is looking - you want it to be reducing to a lovely thick sauce, but not dry out too much so the meat continues to cook until tender and falling apart. If needed; add in half a cup of water and half a cup of wine.
Pop the tray back in the oven for another 2 hours, checking occasionally to make sure the liquid to meat/veg ratio is looking ok - add water/wine as required.
Once the meat is falling off the bone/comes apart easily when poked with a fork, he's ready to roll! Sprinkle over your zesty gremolata topping & serve in the tray at the table for maximum drama & wow factor with one (or several) of the suggestions below.
Serving Suggestions:
Given the saucy factor of this dish, this little pig highly recommends serving it with either buttery polenta (the traditional accompaniment) fluffy mashed potatoes (a very Australian accompaniment) & warm crusty bread (just a good idea in general) with lashings of butter.
Polenta - Bring 6 cups of water to the boil and once bubbling whisk in your polenta (2 cups). Gently mix until thick and creamy, then drop in a generous knob of butter & season to taste. Parmesan is also sensational grated through the polenta before serving.
Mashed Potatoes - Fill a large pot with cold water & add in chopped potatoes (1kg) This little pig likes to use a white (extra starchy) spud for maximum mash factor. Bring to the boil & cook until potatoes can be easily pierced by a fork, then drain the potatoes reserving 1 cup of liquid. Add in a good knob of butter, season to taste & start mashing! Use the reserved liquid to slowly add (may not need all of it) as you go to keep things silky smooth. Again parmesan is also sensational grated through/on top.
Gorgeous Greens - Either 2 bunches of Broccolini or 600g of Brussel sprouts halved would be fabulous as a side dish. Simply microwave with a sploosh of water on high for 2 min or until softened, but still with a bit o crunch. Squeeze over your zested lemon before serving.