Osso Bucco

Classic Osso Bucco (my way). What more can you say? I love serving it with the gremolata pasta as I feel it brings a freshness to what is a very rich dish. The lemon is the absolute key for me and the addition of bacon is in no way classic, but I tend to add a little bacon or a few lardons to most stews as I feel it just makes them that much more delicious, people might also scoff at my use of a whole bottle of wine, but I think it's just perfect.


Osso Bucco 

Ingredients: 
(serves 6)
6 pieces Veal/Beef shin
Flour for dusting
Oil for frying
100g Streaky Bacon (finely diced)
1 Onion
2 Carrots
4 Celery Stalks
2 cloves garlic (crushed)
1 bottle White Wine
500ml Chicken Stock
2 Bay leaves
3 Strips of lemon peel

Gremolata:
60g Fresh Parsley
Zest of 1 lemon
2 cloves Garlic (sliced)
Salt
1/2 cup Olive Oil

Pasta and grated parmesan to serve

Method:
Pour a good glug of olive oil into a large casserole pot on med-high heat.
Season the pieces of shin, coat in flour and fry in batches until browned on both sides. Set aside.
Add more olive oil to the pot and fry the bacon until just beginning to crisp, then remove and set aside.
Wash, roughly dice and then blitz all the vegetables in a food processor until finely chopped, then drizzle a last splash of oil into the casserole pot and fry the vegetables for 5 minutes, stirring often.
Add the garlic, white wine, stock, bay leaves, lemon peel, bacon and veal/beef, stir to combine, cover and simmer gently (stirring every now and then) for approximately 1 1/2 - 2 hours or until the meat is tender enough to come away from the bone.
If the sauce needs reducing, take the lid off for the last + - 15 minutes and simmer uncovered until thickened.

For the gremolata:
Blitz all the ingredients together in a food processor and, when the pasta is cooked and drained, fry a few spoonfuls of the gremolata in a pan for a minute or so to cook the garlic and then toss through the pasta to coat it.
Serve with grated parmesan.