Slow-cooked, wine-braised, melt-on-the-tongue meat swimming in a dark marrow-rich gravy, that is the famed Italian dish osso buco. This easy-to-put-together version is made with juicy bone-in pork shanks for pork osso buco. Move over, Sunday roast, there’s a new don in town.
Another alternative Sunday stunner is this French Beef Bourguignon. Also braised in wine and carrots for its low, slow cook, but using a rump roasting joint, or economical stewing steak. Serve with all your favourite roast day sides.
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Osso buco
Osso buco is a quintessentially Northern Italian dish from the Lombardy region. Being mountainous and cooler, North Italian cuisine showcases produce that thrives in its climate: fatty meats, cream, polenta and potatoes, root vegetables, often in thick and hearty sauces. Hello, Osso Buco!
By contrast, the South offers lighter dishes consisting of seafood, olive oil and bread. I can’t get enough of either!
Osso buco is a rich, slow-cooked stew made from earthy vegetables; carrots, onions, celery, and a wine-fuelled gravy that bathes and braises a cross-cut shank. Shanks, from the lower part of the leg are favoured for slow cooking as there is plenty of connective tissue to render down into a gorgeous gelatinous juice.
There’s also a greater bone to meat ratio, so more of the key ingredient, bone marrow, melts into the gravy to intensify its rich flavour and unimaginably unctuous texture.
Meaning ‘bone with a hole’, this refers to the sturdy marrow-filled, sawn-off bone exposed in the shank. Traditionally a veal shank would be used, but I have made mine with more accessible pork. Beef is also a popular alternative and will still result in a sublime meal.
Recipe tips and notes
- I’ve used pork as it is easily available and less expensive than the traditional veal shank. This recipe also works with beef.
- A deep and wide cast-iron pan is ideal for cooking osso buco. The width allows for the juices to evaporate, and ultimately producing a sauce of the right consistency. A wider pan also allows the pork shanks to nestle alongside each other. However, a deep and narrow one will do, you may need to stack the meat and uncover the pot for the last 30 minutes of cooking.
- Use either red or white wine to deglaze the pan. Just make it dry! Or if you’ve taken my previous advice and got yourself a bottle of Vermouth to cook with (and make cocktails), use it now!
- I love using fresh herbs. The flavour they bring is unbeatable. But I know how wasteful it feels if you just can’t use them up. If you tend not to buy them, dried herbs are absolutely fine for this recipe.
- The tomato factor can be turned up or down in this dish, which is perfect for those who don’t like a too-tomatoey sauce. I’ve tinkered with the tomatoes and brought it down to a palatable tinge of ½ cup. I want to allow the flavour of the pork to head up the dish, not be drowned out by sometimes sour, tinned tomato. My sauce tends to be more brothy.
- Pork shanks sometimes come wrapped in rind. Mine did so I carefully removed it and the layer of fat beneath it.
- If there is any fat left on the outside, score it with a sharp knife before cooking. This prevents the shanks from curling up at the edges when cooked.
Serving suggestions
Eat this sumptuous meaty wonder Lombardy style over either creamy polenta or golden saffron risotto. For a green side; cavolo nero (black kale) or pan fried zucchini with basil and pecorino. Add Tuscan butter beans to the side and you are sure to fill everyone up!
Finally, osso buco usually comes with a punchy dose of gremolata. Gremolata, is a vibrant herby sauce made from parsley, lemon zest, garlic and olive oil and it takes this dish to another flavour dimension.
Storage and leftovers
This Italian pork recipe is an investment of time, so you might be planning ahead and preparing it at the weekend to eat later in the week. Fortunately, this is another of those dishes that lends very well to a bit of a rest!
After cooking, seal in an airtight container and the pork osso buco can be kept in the fridge for up to 4 days. This already flavoursome dish will intensify over that time, and you can expect an even more mouthwatering midweek meal.
When ready, either reheat slowly on the hob until the pork is hot all the way through or cook in the oven for 30-40 minutes at 165C/325F. Always check pork is cooked through to a food-safe temperature!
More Italian recipes to try
- Slow Cooker Italian Beef Stew
- Chicken Broccoli Alfredo
- Tortelloni with Creamy Tomato Sauce and Spinach
- Italian Rosemary Chicken Stew
Pork Osso Buco
Ingredients
- 1 kg / 2.2 lbs pork osso buco (4 pieces)
- Salt
- Pepper
- 1 tbsp This is an affiliate link.olive oil
- 1 carrot
- 1 onion
- 1 celery rib
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 rosemary sprigs or thyme
- 2 This is an affiliate link.bay leaves
- 125ml / ½ cup dry white wine or red wine
- 250ml / 1 cup This is an affiliate link.chicken stock
- 125ml / ½ cup This is an affiliate link.canned chopped tomatoes
Instructions
- If the pork osso buco chops come with a pork rind around them, cut it off and trim off the fat. Season with salt and pepper and brown in hot oil in a cast iron casserole (Dutch Oven) until golden on both sides, remove from a pan and set aside until later.
- To the same pot, add the diced carrots, onions and celery and cook over low heat for about 10 minutes, add the sliced garlic, fresh rosemary and bay leaves and cook for 30 seconds longer. Deglaze with the white wine and let everything bubble for a couple of minutes, then bring in the chicken stock and chopped tomatoes, stir to combine and top with the browned pork osso buco pieces, then flip them over, so both sides are coated in the sauce. The sauce should partially cover the meat.
- Turn the heat to low, cover with a lid and simmer for 1 hour and 20 minutes, then uncover and simmer for 10-15 minutes longer. Alternatively you can cook it in the oven at 150C/300F for an hour and 20 minutes covered, then uncover for 10 minutes to caramelise the pork.
Sasha says
I didn’t notice the suggestion to add gremolata until after I’d made the recipe and it was pretty bland without it. I’d recommend adding gremolata in the recipe for people like me who don’t read the text and just go straight to the recipe. Thanks!
Amber Rogers says
made this last night .. but used beef shin meat with a chunky piece of marrow bone .. was delicious the most beefy of beef style stews
Julia Frey (Vikalinka) says
Wow, what a great outcome, Amber. Thank you for sharing this with me!