Ossobuco is the dish that tells you whether a cook understands time. The cut is tough. The sauce is simple. Everything depends on patience and a low flame. In Milan it arrives at the table with a spoon for the marrow and a golden risotto beside it.
Chef Giampaolo Maffini is a Milan-trained Italian chef with forty years of professional experience across eighteen countries, named TIME Magazine Chef to Watch in 2004 and trained under Gualtiero Marchesi, Italy’s first three-Michelin-star chef. This is the Milanese method, the older white version, as he teaches it.
What ossobuco is
The name means bone with a hole. It is veal shank cut across the bone into thick rounds, each one a ring of meat around a hollow bone filled with marrow. Long braising turns the connective tissue into gelatine. The sauce becomes glossy without cream and with nothing more than a light dusting of flour.
There are two schools. The version most people outside Italy know is braised with tomato. The older Milanese version, ossobuco in bianco, uses no tomato at all. White wine, broth, a soffritto and lemon carry the dish. That is the version here.
Choosing and preparing the shank
Ask your butcher for veal shank from the hind leg, cut three to four centimetres thick. The hind shank is meatier.
Cut two or three small nicks through the thin membrane around the edge of each piece. Without them the membrane shrinks in the heat and the shank curls like a cup. Season with salt and dust lightly with flour. Tap off the excess. The flour helps the browning and gives the sauce a little body later.
The method for four
You need four pieces of veal shank, about 300 grams each, plain flour for dusting, 40 grams of butter, a spoonful of olive oil, one onion, one small carrot and one celery stalk, all finely chopped, 200 ml of dry white wine, about 500 ml of light meat broth, and salt.
- Melt half the butter with the oil in a wide, heavy pan that holds the shanks in one layer. Brown the shanks on both sides over medium heat, about four minutes per side. Lift them out.
- Add the rest of the butter and the chopped vegetables. Cook them gently for eight to ten minutes until soft and sweet. This is the soffritto, and it sets the flavour of the whole dish. Our guide to soffritto explains why it must never brown.
- Return the shanks. Pour in the wine and let it bubble until the sharp smell of alcohol fades.
- Add hot broth to come halfway up the meat. Cover and keep the heat at the lowest steady simmer for one and a half to two hours. Baste every twenty minutes and add broth if the pan runs dry.
- The shank is ready when the meat yields to a spoon and pulls back from the bone. Lift the pieces onto a warm plate. If the sauce is thin, reduce it uncovered for a few minutes until it coats a spoon.
Keep the bone upright through the braise. If the shank tips over, the marrow slides out into the sauce and the best part of the dish is lost.
Gremolata, the finishing touch
Gremolata is what makes ossobuco Milanese. Finely grate the zest of one unwaxed lemon. Chop one small clove of garlic and a handful of flat-leaf parsley fine. Mix them together.
Scatter it over the shanks in the last two minutes, or straight onto the plate. The heat releases the lemon oil and softens the raw edge of the garlic. Added too early, it turns dull and bitter. Added at the end, it lifts a rich, slow dish and makes it taste fresh.
How Milan serves it
The classic partner is risotto alla Milanese, the saffron risotto of Lombardy. Spoon a little of the braising sauce over the rice. The two dishes belong together and make a complete plate.
Serve a small spoon or a marrow fork with each portion. In Milan, scooping out the marrow is part of the meal.
Frequently asked questions
Should ossobuco have tomato?
Both versions are Italian. The older Milanese style, in bianco, has no tomato and relies on white wine, broth and gremolata. The tomato version came later and is common outside Milan. Choose one and cook it well.
Can I use beef shank instead of veal?
Yes, though the result is different. Beef shank is larger and firmer and needs closer to three hours. The sauce will be darker and the flavour stronger. Veal gives the gentle result Milan expects.
Why did my shanks curl in the pan?
The membrane around the edge tightened in the heat. Next time, make two or three small cuts through it before browning.
Can I braise it in the oven?
Yes. Once the broth is in, cover the pan and move it to an oven at about 150°C. The steady heat is gentle on the meat. Check the liquid every half hour.
Chef Giampaolo Maffini trained under Gualtiero Marchesi in Milan and has spent forty years in professional kitchens across eighteen countries, from Ritz-Carlton and Crown Resorts to Hilton. TIME Magazine named him a Chef to Watch in 2004. He is a member of the Chaine des Rotisseurs. Read the full background on the About Chef Giampaolo Maffini page.
Slow braises like ossobuco show a kitchen’s discipline on a busy night. If you are building an Italian menu or training a brigade to cook the classics the same way every service, see Italian culinary consulting or write to chef@chefmaffini.com.
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