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    Meat · Recipe · Milan · Reference page

    Ossobuco alla milanese

    ossobuco alla milanese / os büs

    Thick slices of veal shank, bone and marrow included, floured, browned in butter and braised slowly with a soffritto, white wine and stock. It is finished with gremolada, a mince of parsley, garlic and lemon zest. The Milanese version is cooked without tomato and served with saffron risotto.

    Ossobuco alla milanese with a marrow bone, light braising sauce and parsley, garlic and lemon gremolada on a white plate.
    Editorial illustration of the documented recipe; not a photograph of a kitchen-tested result.
    Servings
    4
    Preparation
    30 min
    Cooking
    2 h
    Total
    2 h 30
    Difficulty
    Moderate

    Equipment

    • Wide heavy pan with a lid that holds the four shanks in one layer
    • Wide spatula for turning; zester or fine grater
    Servings4

    Ingredients

    • The braise

    • The gremolada

    Shopping list

    Method

    1. Pat the shanks dry. Make 2 or 3 small cuts in the membrane round the edge of each slice, then dust with flour and shake off the excess.

      Why The outer membrane shrinks as it cooks; nicking it keeps the slices flat. The flour is a veil, not a coating: it helps browning and gives body to the sauce.

    2. Heat the butter and oil in the pan over a medium-high heat and brown the shanks well, 3–4 minutes a side. Lift them out.

      Timer · 8 min8:00

    3. Lower the heat, add the onion, carrot and celery and soften them for 5–7 minutes, stirring, without letting them burn.

      Timer · 6 min6:00

    4. Return the shanks, pour in the wine and let the alcohol evaporate. Season with salt and pepper.

    5. Add a ladle of hot stock, cover and simmer on a low heat for 1½ to 2 hours, depending on thickness. Turn the shanks once or twice with a wide spatula and add stock whenever the pan looks dry.

      Why Hot stock keeps the simmer steady; cold liquid stops the cooking and tightens the meat. Turning gently keeps the marrow in the bone.

      Timer · 1 h 45105:00

    6. The meat is ready when it almost comes away with a fork and the sauce is thick and glossy. Mix the parsley, garlic and lemon zest and scatter the gremolada over the shanks just before serving, or stir it into the sauce for the last 2–3 minutes.

    To drink & serve with

    • Risotto alla milanese

      The classic Milanese partner: saffron risotto. Polenta or a light mash also work.

    • Valtellina

      MilanoFree suggests Lombard reds: Nebbiolo (Chiavennasca) from Valtellina or Bonarda dell'Oltrepò Pavese.

    Substitutions

    • Butter and oil → Butter only, or clarified butter. Olive oil with or instead of butter is an accepted variant.
    • Plain flour (gluten-free) → Skip the flour or use rice flour; reduce the sauce a little longer.
    • In bianco → For the common home variant, add 1–2 tbsp tomato paste or 2–3 tbsp passata after the wine. Artusi's 1891 recipe used tomato.

    Common mistakes

    • Cooking on a high flame: ossobuco wants time, not heat.
    • Adding cold stock: it stops the simmer.
    • Making the gremolada too early: it loses its fresh smell.

    Storage & reheating

    Good the next day. Cool quickly, refrigerate within 2 hours and eat within 2 days. Reheat gently with a little stock until steaming hot, and make fresh gremolada.

    Safety

    Contains gluten (flour), milk (butter), celery and sulphites (wine). Marrow bones are hot: serve with a small spoon.

    Allergens

    Gluten · Milk · Celery · Sulphites

    Check labels: stock, bacon and sauces can contain further allergens.

    A Milanese dish, with or without tomato

    Pellegrino Artusi, writing in Florence in 1891, said ossobuco was "a dish best left to the Milanese" and described it modestly: a hollow, meaty piece of bone from the leg or shoulder of a milk-fed calf, cooked on a battuto of onion, celery, carrot and butter, finished with water and tomato, then flavoured with chopped lemon peel and parsley.

    Milan claims it more firmly today. The Comune di Milano gave ossobuco alla milanese a Denominazione Comunale (De.Co.) by a resolution of 14 December 2007. The codified method floured meat, butter and onion, then wine and stock added a little at a time, with the gremolada compulsory. The food magazine Scatti di Gusto lists the accepted variants as anchovy in the gremolada, olive oil with or instead of butter, and a very little tomato. MilanoFree says the most traditional school cooks it in bianco. We did not see the De.Co. text itself.

    [1][2][3]

    Bone, marrow and a slow simmer

    The name means "bone with a hole", and the marrow in that hole is the prize. The slices are cut 3–4 cm thick from the hind shank, where there is more meat and less connective tissue than in the foreleg. Small cuts in the membrane keep them flat, a light dusting of flour browns them and thickens the sauce, and a low, covered simmer with hot stock added little by little melts the connective tissue without drying the meat.

    [3][2]

    How it connects

    Place

    • origin Milan In preparation

    Recipe

    Wine region

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