Try this Beef Shank Osso Buco recipe, or contribute your own.
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- pepper
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- salt
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 cup diced carrots
- 1 cup diced celery
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest
- 4 bone-in beef cross cut shanks (about 3 1/2 lbs)
- 1/2 to 1 cup flour (optional)
- 2 tablespoons double concentrated tomato paste
- 1/2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 2 sprigs of thyme
- 1 sprig of rosemary
- pinch ground cloves
- gremolata:
- 3 garlic cloves finely diced
- 1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
- Carbohydrate 9.77901261239829 g
- Cholesterol 690 mg
- Fat 142.219887419968 g
- Fiber 2.70293174735689 g
- Protein 172.481564260299 g
- Saturated Fat 40.1825406097297 g
- Serving Size 1 1 serving (1045g)
- Sodium 697.531471743606 mg
- Sugar 7.0760808650414 g
- Trans Fat 11.9417653022343 g
- Calories 2062 calories
Step-by-step
- Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat.
- Add ½ cup flour to a large Ziplock bag.
- Pat shanks with paper towels to remove excess liquid, season with salt and pepper. Gently toss each shank in the flour to coat, adding more flour to bag as needed. Shake excess flour from shanks before adding to hot pan.
- Brown shanks for 3-5 minutes on each side. Transfer browned shanks to slow cooker.
- In the same pan, add remaining oil if needed and then add in the onion, carrots, and celery. Add a pinch of salt and stir frequently until onion is soft.
- Add in the minced garlic and stir for about 30 seconds. Add tomato paste and wine.
- Transfer contents to the slow cooker, add broth, balsamic, herbs and cloves, and a little salt and pepper. Cook on low for about 6 hours. Meat should be fork tender.
- Remove rosemary, thyme, and bay leaves.
- If desired, use 1-2 tablespoons of flour to thicken the sauce by whisking flour into about ½ cup of hot liquid from the slow cooker. Return mixture to the cooker and stir gently. Continue to simmer for 5-10 minutes, or until sauce is thick. Serve on its own topped with gremolata, or over polenta, potatoes or rice.
- Gremolata: Add the three ingredients together and stir gently, store in the refrigerator in a sealed container.
Flour-dredging beef shanks before searing protects the meat from drying out while releasing starches that naturally body the braising liquid. Cooks frequently commit errors by crowding the Dutch oven during the initial browning phase, which generates steam instead of the deep Maillard crust required to build a complex savory foundation. Patting the bone-in cuts thoroughly with paper towels removes surface moisture before they enter the hot oil, ensuring the flour adheres evenly without clumping into gummy patches. Because collagen within the connective tissue requires sustained, gentle heat to convert into gelatin, maintaining a low slow-cooker temperature for six hours yields the necessary fork-tender texture.
Aromatic vegetables like onions, carrots, and celery must soften entirely in the rendered fats before the wine and tomato paste deglaze the pan floor. Introducing the dry white wine and scraping up browned residue releases caramelized proteins back into the sauce. When scaling quantities up for larger gatherings, maintain the ratio of one cup of wine per four pounds of meat while scaling broth to submerge the shanks halfway.
Finishing the dish with a fresh mixture of lemon zest, garlic, and parsley cuts through the rich braising reduction. Storing this gremolata separately in a sealed container preserves its pungent aroma until serving time.
