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Ossobuco is an Italian shank dish, popular in many cuisines of the world. With the addition of suitable seasonings and the right cooking technology, you can get a really delicious and unique dish.
However, how can you serve it properly? What vegetables, drinks and sauces can complement the taste of the dish? Learn all the subtleties of ossobuco serving and learn how to cook it properly!
What is Osso Buco?
Osso buco is a traditional dish of Lombard cuisine in the form of stewed veal shank, as well as the name of the meat semi-finished product used for this dish. Osso buco literally means “hollow bone”, as the bone together with the brain are also an integral part of the dish.
For the preparation of that product in Milanese, chefs use veal shank, vegetables and spices. Although the traditional meat for osso buco is veal, now you can also find dishes from pork and lamb shanks.
Why do we need side dishes for Osso Buco?
Osso buco is a versatile and independent dish. However, due to fat content, it may be quite difficult for many to eat the product without sauces, side dishes and suitable drinks. Also, the serving helps to avoid the uniformity of taste.
You can combine meat with something new, making it unique from time to time. For example, a good variation can be hot tomato sauce, cream mushroom soup, and risotto alla milanese. The main thing is to choose really suitable side dishes to taste and texture.
How to choose the right side dish
To pick up the right side dish for osso buco, you should take into account several important points. Among them:
- Preferences of your guests. If you want to surprise them, choose something unique and unusual. If it’s just a task to arrange a pleasant dinner for them, it’s enough to choose something classic and guaranteed delicious. Asparagus, broccoli and artichokes will be good variations here.
- Consider the tastes. Sometimes a good side dish is just a combination of successful products. Just connect the juxtaposing textures. Here it is worth paying attention to vegetables and cheeses.
- Pay special attention to the choice of vegetables. Avoid foods high in sodium. This includes canned and pre-frozen vegetables. It is better to choose something fresh and without salt, which does not interrupt the taste of fatty meat. In this case, shpitan, zucchini, and broccoli will do.
- Show all your creativity. Try a simple salad instead of the usual steamed or boiled vegetables. Add chopped fresh herbs, toasted nuts or grated cheese for an extra bright flavor.
The best vegetables to serve with Osso Buco
Vegetables are always the best side dish for meat. They are quite light and low-calorie. This combination perfectly balances the taste of fatty Osso Buco. The most popular option is potatoes and dishes made from it.
For example, French fries or mashed potatoes. You can also consider peas or other legumes. Another timeless classic is various types of risotto. Rice always goes well with fatty and high-calorie foods.
Chefs also recommend not to forget about carrots, lettuce leaves, tomatoes, and cucumbers.
What salad goes well with Osso Buco?
From vegetables, you can also prepare various salads as side dishes for Osso Buco. Professional chefs advise to cook Sweet Summer Panzanella. The main ingredient for such a dish is the usual sweet tomatoes, olive oil, and basil.
As a compliment, you can serve toasted baguettes. Also good options will be the usual vegetable salads of cucumbers, zucchini, carrots, radishes, and red onions.
What dessert goes with Osso Buco?
Is it possible to serve Osso Buco from oxtails with various desserts? At first glance, this is a completely unacceptable and strange combination. However, you can serve the sweet dish a little later.
Chocolate dessert or apple strudel will perfectly complement the taste of fatty meat.
However, professional chefs do not recommend not to combine the sweet taste directly with Osso Buco. Just leave the time allotted for dessert – after a meal.
Best wine for Osso Buco
Wine is always a great solution for serving meat. It is best to serve Osso Buco with vegetables and white wine. A white semi-sweet is ideal, complementing the taste of the steak. Other alcoholic beverages have a rather coarse and sweet taste.
This is a bad and inappropriate combination for meat products.
You can also add wine directly to the sauce itself or marinade for a particularly Osso Buco. With regard to other drinks, you can serve pomegranate or cherry juice to the meat. These concentrated drinks enhance the taste of any product, especially protein.
Best sauce for Osso Buco
The sauce is necessary for serving with any meat. With regards to OssoBuco, give preference to Gremolata sauce. You can prepare such an additive in 10 minutes at home.
Gremolata is an invention of Italian gourmets who appreciate simple, inexpensive and natural ingredients, especially their right combination. To prepare this sauce, you will need parsley, lemon, garlic, and saffron.
Just finely chop the garlic and parsley, and later mix them with lemon zest or lemon juice. You should get a rich and dense consistency.
What To Serve With Osso Buco
The list of ideal side dishes for Osso Buco is quite wide and varied. The choice depends on your taste preferences. Among the possible options are the following:
- Grilled vegetables. This dish will be tastier and more unusual than simple chopped vegetables. Choose fresh peppers, onions and mushrooms.
- Mashed Potatoes. It is the perfect addition to Osso Buco. Be careful with the addition of salt, as well as with the consistency of the future dish.
- Risotto. This Italian dish will be perfectly combined with the Italian Osso Buco. Moreover, the combination of cream and rice is quite tender. That complements the taste of meat.
- Fruit salad. This is another quick, easy and beneficial option for serving with Osso Buco. You can use all kinds of fruits: apples, oranges, bananas, pears and pineapples.
- Roasted Asparagus. This is another good option for serving with Ossobuco. The classic combination of flavors is also easy to make. The main thing is to use olive oil and not overdo it with its amount.
Traditional serving for Osso Buсo
Osso Buco is a classic Italian dish with a rich ancient history. Cooks traditionally serve it with a gremolata of parsley, lemon zest and garlic cloves. A creamy polenta or saffron risotto is also a possible option.
Italian side dishes are distinguished by their low calorie content and abundant amount of spices. Also, traditionally, cooks quite often serve posts like lukamoni or rigatoni to Osso Buco. They are quite nutritious and go well with meat.
Meat for cooking Osso Buco
Choosing meat for Osso Buco is not an easy task. For its preparation, you should use beef (veal), namely the shank — the upper part of the leg. Cooks cut this meat part into pieces-steaks 3-4 cm thick together with the bone.
You can also use pork or beef, but this combination will not be a classic. Also an integral part of Osso Buco is the spinal cord. Such a product scares many people, but you just have to cook it properly.
What to use instead of veal shanks?
Veal shanks are not always available in the nearest stores. What to do in this case? Replace short ribs or beef oxtails with regular pork or beef.
However, you should slightly change the cooking technology so that the meat turns out to be as tender and soft. Just simmer it for 30-40 minutes longer. But to prepare a really traditional Osso Buco, you should use only veal shanks.
The best Osso Buco recipe
To prepare an excellent Osso Buco, you will need the following ingredients:
- veal (a piece of shin) with a round bone – 2 pieces
- meat broth – 2 cups
- dry white wine – 1 cup
- carrots – 2 pieces
- onion – 1 piece
- celery stalks – 2 pieces
- canned tomato pulp – 1 jar
- olive oil – 50 ml
- butter – 2 tbsp
- wheat flour – 2 tbsp
- spices – to taste
- gremolata – for serving
Step-by-step technology of preparation:
- Rinse the meat with cool water and dry it well with paper towels. Thoroughly salt and pepper the steaks on both sides.
- Roll the steaks in flour. In a frying pan, heat the olive oil and a piece of butter. Put the steaks and fry on high heat until golden brown, about 4-5 minutes.
- Turn over and fry on the other side for another 4-5 minutes. You can also fry the sides of the steak.
- Put the meat in a deep saucepan. Chop the vegetables.
- Fry the vegetables for 3-4 minutes until light golden brown. Add the garlic and fry for another 1-2 minutes.
- Transfer the fried vegetables to the meat. Add tomatoes and pour in dry white wine.
- Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Pour in the broth and bring it to a boil again. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Cover the pan with a lid or foil. Put it in the oven and simmer for about 2.5-3 hours.
Italian Osso Buco recipe
The traditional Italian recipe of Osso Buco is slightly different from the usual one for us. Prepare the necessary ingredients for cooking:
- veal knuckle – 4 pieces
- ripe tomatoes – 4 pieces
- medium onions – 2 pieces
- garlic – 2 cloves
- tomato paste – 2 tablespoons
- dry red wine – 200 ml
- parsley – 4 sprigs
- rosemary – 1 sprig
- lemon zest – to taste
- bay leaf – 2 leaves
- olive oil – 2 tablespoons
- salt and pepper – to taste
Step-by-step technology of preparation:
- Dry the meat. Cut the onion into rings, chop 1 clove of garlic. Heat the olive oil and put out the onion and garlic in it.
- Put the meat in a pan skillet and fry on both sides over high heat until a golden crust forms.
- Make cross-shaped incisions on the tomatoes, dip them in boiling water for 30 seconds, then pour cold water over them and peel them off.
- Place the meat in any solid container suitable for a steamer, add tomatoes, salt to taste and season with pepper.
- Pour in the wine and tomato puree, add the bay leaf and cook for about 1.5 hours.
- Chop the parsley, chop the second clove of garlic, grate the zest of half a lemon on a fine grater.
- A few minutes before the meat is ready, add the prepared products to the steamer. Put a sprig of rosemary on top
Osso Buco recipe with cheese
Osso Buco is also traditionally served in Italy as a main course with cheese and broccoli rabe. For this variation, prepare the necessary ingredients:
- parmesan cheese or goat cheese — 150 g
- cream (33%) — 100 ml
- veal shanks – 500 g
- beef stock — 500 ml
- onion — 100 g
- carrot — 100 g
- celery stalked — 100 g
- parsley — 30 g
- salt (sea) — 3 g
- olive oil (for frying) — to taste
- spices — to taste
Step-by-step technology of preparation:
- Coarsely dice the onion, carrot and celery stalk.
- Place the pan on the stove top. Fry the veal shanks in olive oil until golden brown, add salt and pepper to taste.
- Then fill with water and simmer for 3 hours on low heat until soft.
- Evaporate the cream to the consistency of the sauce, dissolve the cheese in it until smooth and put the finished calf’s shin with vegetables on top.
Is Osso Bucco healthy?
Specialists and nutritionists rarely consider meat to be a beneficial and healthy product due to its fat and high calorie content. However, it contains protein necessary for the human body. So what are the health benefits of Osso Buco?
With proper preparation, such a dish will support your immunity and the state of the circulatory system. The high iron content also protects you from developing anemia.
However, be careful with the addition of oil – it will only worsen the taste and nutritional value of the dish.
Storage rules
You can store Osso Buco like any other prepared meat product. After you have stewed the meat until fork tender, let it cool to room temperature. Next, distribute the meat into airtight containers and place it in the refrigerator.
This way you can store veal shanks braised for up to 3-4 days. Is it possible to freeze such a dish? Any professional chef will tell you that this is a bad idea. You cannot extend the shelf life of Osso Buco in this way.
You deprive the cooked product of some of its nutritional properties and subject it to heat treatment. The freezer will simply destroy all the delicate fibers.
Main tips
There are several tips for making Osso Buco. They will simplify the cooking process for you and allow you to get a quality product. Among them:
- Choose tender meat from trusted sellers.
- Simmer Osso Buco for at least 1.5 hours until the fibers soften.
- Add green sauce or tomato paste to sharpen the taste.
- Bake the meat on a baking sheet so that it does not burn, but gradually stews.
- Serve the dish with bread cubes so that they absorb excess moisture from veal shanks.
- Serve a dish with vegetables to increase the vitamin C content and make the product more useful for the body.
Summary
Osso Buco is a great dish for a dinner party. You can combine it with various side dishes, constantly changing the flavor combinations. Be careful also with the selection of spices and sauce – they should not overlap the taste of meat.
Serve Osso Buco on your dinner table with risotto, vegetable salads, gremolata, as well as with fresh herbs. Don’t be afraid to try new things and surprise your friends with a traditional Italian dish!