A flavourful disk of meat & bone cross-cut from the shank, slow-cooked in a creamy and flavorful sauce, served with mashed potatoes and, in this case, asparagus and shimeji mushrooms.
Recipe
*for 2-4 servings, depending on how hungry you are
Ingredients osso buco:
500g veal shanks (2 big pieces, 4 little one)
1 medium white onion
1 medium carrot
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 red chili pepper
150ml red wine
150ml concentrated bone broth
7-8 tablespoons of olive oil
4 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon of fine salt
2-3 bay leaves
2 tablespoons of flour
150-200ml water
Sides:
mashed potatoes (from about 200-250g potatoes)
150g shimeji mushrooms
200g of asparagus
Steps to follow:
(1) Season the veal with salt (about 2/3 of the amount above), then pass all the pieces, on both sides, in flour, covering the meat well, but dusting off the excess.
In a well-heated non-stick pan, add 3-4 tablespoons of oil and brown the veal for about 4-5 minutes on each side.
(2) Remove the veal from the pan, add the rest of the oil and saute the finely chopped onion for 2-3 minutes. Then add the diced carrot (or cut in rounds), garlic and hot pepper and keep on fire for another 2-3 minutes. Then add the broth.
(3) Place the veal back in the pan and add the wine. Cook for 10-15 minutes until the alcohol evaporates.
(4) Add the thyme, bay leaves, the remaining salt, soup and water, put the lid on and cook on a low heat for about 2 hours, until the veal becomes very tender and almost falls apart when lightly pressed with a fork. If the sauce becomes to thick along the way, add another 50 ml of water.
At the end, the sauce should remain slightly liquid, but not excessively watery.
(5) When everything is ready, turn off the heat and transfer the sauce into a blender and blend until smooth. Transfer the sauce over the meat back to the pan. Cook for another 5 minutes, enough to cover the rasol well in the sauce. We make sure that it is not too thick, the sauce must have in the end the consistency of a liquid cream.
Notes for sides:
Asparagus: Pour water to boil into a pot. Break off the woodier part of the asparagus, and place the remaining tips into the water when it came to a boil. Boil the asparagus for 3-5 minutes, until it became tender, but crunchy at the same time. Take it out on a plate, sprinkle salt, a cube of butter on top and a little lemon juice.
Shimeji mushrooms: Cut the mushrooms from the bunch and sautéed them for 4-5 minutes in a pan with 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil and a pinch of salt.
Mashed potatoes: I recommend a creamy and smooth mashed potatoes, made from floury white potatoes, simply prepared, with salt to taste, butter and milk.
Happy cooking!
Love,
G.
