Lamb Osso Buco 

Award-winning cookbook author Rose Levy Beranbaum’s rich intense flavorful version of Osso Buco

Serves 4

I started making osso buco with lamb instead of veal because lamb marrow is my favorite, and much to my delight, I found I prefer the rich intense flavor the lamb shanks give to the dish rather than the more delicate, less assertive flavor of the traditional veal.

TIP: Start preparing at 4 or 4:15 to eat at 7:30

Ingredients:

Onion: 25 grams/1/4 cup, chopped fine


Carrot: 25 grams, 2-1/2 tablespoons, chopped fine


Celery: 25 grams/2-1/2 tablespoons, chopped fine


Butter 1 tablespoon/14 grams 


Garlic: 1 teaspoon grated 


1 strip lemon peel with none of
the white pith beneath it


4 teaspoons vegetable oil


(2) lamb shanks, about 16 ounces each, sawed crosswise into 2 pieces

Dry white wine: 1/4 cup

Meat broth: 1/4 cup, or
2 T canned beef broth with 2 T water


Canned plum tomatoes: 1/4 cup + 2T,
coarsely chopped, with juices


Fresh thyme: 1/8 teaspoon or 1/16 teaspoon dried


1 small bay leaf

1 sprig parsley


Black pepper

Salt

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 325˚F (300˚F convection).


  2. Choose a pot with a heavy bottom or of enameled cast iron that can accommodate all the veal shanks in a single layer.

  3. Put in the onion, carrot, celery,
and butter, and cook on medium for 6 to 7
minutes. Add the garlic and lemon peel, cook another 2 or
3 minutes until the vegetables soften and wilt, then remove
from heat.


  4. Put the vegetable oil in a skillet and turn heat to medium high.
Turn the lamb shanks in the flour, coating them all over and shaking
off the excess flour.
 Note: Do not flour the lamb
in advance because the flour will become soggy and make it impossible
to achieve a crisp surface.
When the oil is quite hot (375˚F) add the shanks and brown them deeply all over. Remove them
from the skillet using a slotted spoon or spatula, and set them
side by side over the chopped vegetables in the pot.


  5. Tip the skillet and spoon off all but a little bit of the oil. Add the wine, reduce it by simmering it over medium heat while scraping loose
with a wooden spoon the browning residues stuck to the bottom
and sides. Pour the skillet juices over the veal in the pot.


  6. Add the broth to the skillet, bring it to a simmer, and add it to the pot.
Also add the chopped tomatoes with their juice, the thyme, the bay
leaves, parsley, pepper and salt. The broth should have come two-thirds of the way up to the top of the shanks. If it does not,
add more or water.


  7. Bring the liquids in the pot to a simmer, cover the pot tightly, and
place it in the lower third of the preheated oven. Cook for 2 hours or until the meat feels very tender when prodded with a
fork and a dense, creamy sauce has formed. Turn the
shanks after 1 hour.

  8. When the osso buco is done, transfer it to a warm platter. Place the pot over a burner with
medium high heat and reduce the liquid (about 15 minutes). Then pour the reduced
juices over the osso buco on the platter. (Or return the shanks to the pot to reheat and spoon some of the sauce over them.
     
    Gremolada (make 2 minutes before serving): Mix together: 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel, taking
care to avoid the white pith
 1/8 teaspoon garlic chopped
very, very fine,
1/2 tablespoon chopped parsley. Sprinkle on top of shanks.

Shop our flavorful Lamb Shanks