P
Italian
Ossobuco al Pomodoro: The Tomato Version
Southern Lombard and Venetian ossobuco — with tomato — represents the coastal influence on what is an inland preparation. Hazan addresses both versions, noting that the tomato version is less classical but equally valid.
I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
4
veal shin cross-cuts (ossobuco)
each approximately 4 cm thick, tied with kitchen string to hold shape
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
30 g
plain flour
for dredging
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
60 g
unsalted butter
Your own market
2 tbsp
olive oil
Your own market
1
white onion
finely chopped
Your own market
150 ml
dry white wine
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
400 g
fresh tomatoes
peeled, seeded, and roughly chopped; or San Marzano canned tomatoes, drained
Origin · ItalyBosa Foods · Vancouver →
250 ml
veal or chicken stock
warm
Your own market
For the gremolata
1
lemon
zest only, finely grated
Your own market
1
garlic clove
very finely minced
Your own market
2 tbsp
flat-leaf parsley
finely chopped
Your own market
to taste
salt and black pepper
Your own market
Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.
II
The Method
1
Pat the veal shin pieces dry. Season with salt and pepper, then dredge lightly in flour, shaking off any excess. The surface should be evenly powdered but not thickly coated.
2
Heat the butter and olive oil together in a wide, heavy braising pan over medium-high heat. When the foam from the butter has subsided and the fat shimmers, lay in the veal pieces cut-side down. Brown without moving them until a deep mahogany crust forms on the underside, then turn and repeat on the other cut face. Remove the meat and set aside; the fat should remain in the pan.
3
Reduce the heat to medium. Add the onion to the same pan and cook gently, stirring, until it is pale gold and fully softened — it must not colour deeply.
4
Return the veal pieces to the pan, standing them upright so the marrow bone faces up. Pour in the white wine. Allow the wine to reduce by roughly half, until the sharp alcohol smell has given way to a mellower, winey fragrance.
5
This is where the dish lives or dies: add the tomatoes, distributing them evenly around and over the meat. Adjust the heat so the braise holds a quiet, steady simmer — never a rolling boil, which would tighten the veal and blow out the marrow. Add warm stock as needed to keep the liquid level at roughly half the height of the meat. The sauce should deepen in colour and lose its raw, bright acidity as it cooks, becoming a cohesive, unctuous braising liquid.
6
Braise, partially covered, basting the meat occasionally. The tomato's acidity shortens the cooking time relative to the plain wine version. The veal is done when the meat yields readily at the prod of a fork but still holds to the bone — it should not be falling apart.
7
Mix together the gremolata ingredients — parsley, lemon zest, and garlic — in a small bowl. Scatter the gremolata evenly over the meat in the final two to three minutes of cooking only, allowing just enough heat to open the aromatics without cooking away their brightness. The scent should be sharp, green, and citric.
From the canon — Gremolata is Milan's essential finishing condiment — a raw mixture of finely chopped lemon zest, garlic, and flat-leaf parsley that is scattered over Ossobuc… Gremolata →
8
Remove the kitchen string. Taste the braising sauce and adjust salt. Serve the ossobuco in its sauce, marrow bone facing upward.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Milk-fed veal shin from a named Lombard or Venetian producer; San Marzano DOP tomatoes, hand-crushed; cultured Piedmontese butter; a Soave Classico or Lugana for the wine reduction.
02
Estate — Rose veal from a traceable pasture-raised source; good-quality Italian canned plum tomatoes, drained and chopped; unsalted French butter; a dry, unoaked Italian white for deglazing.
03
Market — Veal shin from a reliable butcher, cut to order; ripe fresh plum tomatoes peeled and seeded at home; standard unsalted butter; a serviceable dry white wine.
04
House — Any available veal cross-cut; canned plum tomatoes; salted butter used sparingly; whatever dry white is open.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Sight. The braising liquid has lost its raw, bright red colour and deepened to a unified, unctuous sauce that coats the back of a spoon.
◇Touch. The veal yields at the prod of a fork but still holds to the bone without falling away.
◇Smell. The gremolata, added in the final minutes, releases a sharp, clean citrus and parsley scent that cuts through the richness of the tomato braise.
◇Sound. The braise holds a low, intermittent bubble throughout — a steady murmur, never a rolling boil.
◇Where it lives or dies. The dish lives or dies at the tomato addition and the maintenance of a quiet simmer: too fierce a heat tightens the veal, drives out the marrow, and reduces the sauce to a coarse pulp rather than the cohesive, unctuous braise the tomato version demands.
Pillar V
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The dishes this one teaches you, across the cuisines — on every recipe.
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VI
What to Pour
A medium-bodied northern Italian red with sufficient acidity to meet the tomato braise — Barbera d'Asti or a structured Valpolicella — or, following the Venetian coastal influence of the dish, a white of genuine body such as Lugana or a mature Soave Classico.
The whole pairingPillar VII
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
Enter · from $49 a year