Ossobuchi alla milanese, the recipe.
This morning I stopped by Alfredo, my trusted butcher. Alfredo is an old-fashioned butcher: he has a counter that seems rather poor but everything is stored in the refrigerator to maintain the right humidity and temperature; just ask and Alfredo brings out the most beautiful cuts from the cell…
This morning, unusually, he had a beautiful piece of veal shank* on display, from which I had three splendid ossobuco cut, with which I prepared my dish: ossobuchi with saffron risotto and gremolada**
As a procedure, I floured the ossobuchi and fried them over a high heat to close all the pores and prevent the meat juices from coming out.
In a terracotta saucepan I fried an onion and a clove of garlic, added the ossobuchi and let it heat up. I then added a few pieces of carrot, potatoes and courgettes, moistened with red wine and started cooking over a low heat.
In the meantime, separately, I calmly prepared the base for the risotto, chopping a little onion, heating a small pan of good meat broth and melting the saffron in water. I added a little tomato paste to the ossobuco and cooked them slowly, always checking that the meat was tender and the vegetables were well cooked. When cooking was almost finished, I added a little coarse salt (I always try to be careful with the salt).
Then I started cooking the rice, frying the onion in a little olive oil, adding the rice which, once toasted, I moistened with a little white wine. Once the wine had evaporated, I added the hot broth (by now I know the quantities and I manage, after a little light stirring, not to continue moving the rice which cooks slowly, moving on its own thanks to the boiling liquids). When cooking was almost finished, I added the saffron and, when cooking was finished, I stirred it with a piece of butter but I didn't add cheese, which for me, alters the flavor of the saffron.
Then I prepared the dish with the risotto, the ossobuco which I moistened with its sauce and I added the gremolata. All done…
Enjoy your meal!!!
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Photo taken with Canon EOS M100 and lens Canon EF-M 22.
* veal is the meat usually used for this dish because it is more tender but the important thing is that it comes from the rear because it is less fibrous and larger in diameter. I used veal: I knew where it came from and the choice proved me right.
** gremolada is a very simple sauce made by chopping lemon peel without the white part, garlic and parsley and is used to flavor the ossobuco
Note: As always, the quality of the raw materials is essential: first of all, you need to choose the quality of the meat well, if necessary, ordering it from your trusted butcher, asking specifically that it be from behind. Also important is the quality of the wines to soak the meat and rice.