Fork tender braised veal shank simmered with root vegetables in a rich tomato sauce wither fresh herbs. Veal Osso Bucco is the perfect special occasion meal!
Today's a day to celebrate, we're bringing the restaurant experience home. Why celebrate date night in? Because you can wear whatever you like ::cough:: pajamas ::cough:: while you dig into some soul-comforting eats.
We are here for Date Night Veal Osso Bucco in all the ways.
- Slow simmered sauce
- Hearty veggies
- Stick to your ribs goodness
- Fall off the bone bites of tender veal
Is food your language of love? Because this rich, Italian classic is definitely speaking my language.
Getting Fancy for Date Night
When you live restaurant life, what's proper for the days of the week goes right out the window. Like, the typical weekend is Saturday and Sunday and date night would probably be Thursday or Friday right? NOPE. Not in this life.
Especially in this life where you own and run the restaurants and have two kids (well, three if you could the fur child.)
Nah, we like our date night on Tuesday when we can eat a fancy meal, at home, in our comfiest clothes, with a nice bottle of wine, and probably an animated kids movie. Hellooooo beautiful.
Does "I love you" count when you're talking to both your partner and the food at the same time?
Simple, Rich, Simmered
Not just for date night, Veal Osso Bucco is perfect for Sunday supper with the whole family. But if you live for Team Leftover, this will bring tasty eats for dinner and just as good reheats throughout the week.
For what seems like an all day affair, this really is a simple process. Here, let me show you.
How to Make Veal Osso Bucco
Make sure your shanks are dry, season with salt and pepper and dredge in all purpose flour on both sides. Sear them in olive oil until nice and brown, like we did in our Instant Pot Lamb Ragu. It's like the pan's way of sealing in the flavor and seasoning the pan with drippings so those veggies can be epically tasty.
Transfer the shanks to a plate so you can sauté up the veggies and start building your sauce. Mix the tomato paste in really well with the veggies. Then when you add your red wine, scrap up those bits of seared meat goodness off the bottom of the pan. No tasty bite left behind friends!
When your veal shanks are ready to come back to the vegetable party, don't forget to add any drippings left on the plate. All the good things.
Patience pays off, I promise!
Ok, now comes the hard part. Are you ready? Add the remaining ingredients, cover, and cook for two hours with a flip of the veal shanks with 30 minutes to go in the process.
WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO FOR TWO HOURS? That's an eternity when your house is smelling like all amazing things. Here are a few ideas for you:
- Whip up some creamy Parmesan Risotto to serve alongside your Veal Osso Bucco
- Need a sweet treat for after? Pumpkin Panna Cotta is simple, light and easy.
- Netflix
- Instastories wormhole
- Laundry...ugh, maybe not this.
- Open a bottle of wine 'to let it breathe' (aka pour yourself a glass to sip on)
- Sit in the kitchen and watch the clock until it's time to dig in
I won't blame you one bit if you opt for a combo of the last two...just speaking from experience on that one.
However you pass the time, it's going to be totally worth it when you serve up that plate of beautiful, 'look what I made because I love you so much', but they really don't even have to know that it was actually kind of easy. That's my kind of love friends.
Date Night Veal Osso Bucco
Ingredients
- 5 lbs veal shank (4 shanks, 1 ¼ pounds each)
- 3 medium carrots (peeled and diced)
- 2 celery stalks (diced)
- 1 medium yellow onion (diced)
- 1 bulb fennel (¼" half-moon slices)
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup dry red wine
- 2 15-ounce cans diced tomato
- 1 head garlic (cut in half horizontally)
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- 1 sprig thyme
- all purpose flour for dredging (about ½ cup)
- salt and pepper for seasoning
Instructions
- Sear: Season both sides of the shanks with salt and pepper. Dredge each side in all purpose flour. Heat olive oil in a dutch oven over high heat. Sear the meat, 3 minutes each side. Remove from the pan to a separate plate and set aside.
- Sauté: Reduce the heat to medium-high, melt the butter and add chopped vegetables. Season with salt and pepper. Sauté until soft, about 7-8 minutes.
- Simmer: Mix in tomato paste, then deglaze the pan with red wine. Return the shanks and any juices to the pan. Let the liquid reduce for 2 minutes. Add diced tomatoes with sauce, garlic, rosemary and thyme. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer for 1 and ½ hours with the lid on. Turn the shanks over and cook for an additional 30 minutes.
- Serve: Serve right away with the pan sauce and vegetables, or cover and reheat right before serving. We recommend serving with creamy Parmesan Risotto!
Notes
Nutrition
Courtney says
My husband absolutely loves osso bucco. Thanks for the great recipe, I will be trying this for him next time we have a night at home alone together 🙂
Linda says
We were the lucky taste testers. So GOOD!
Lis @ The Fare Sage says
Just stunning! One of my favourites but I’ve never made it myself. I’m inspired. And I love the idea of serving it with Parmesan risotto. Thanks for such a beautiful recipe.