Ossobuco al Pomodoro: The Tomato Version

Ingredients

• 4 veal shin cross-cuts (ossobuco), each approximately 4 cm thick, tied with kitchen string to hold shape
• 30 g plain flour, for dredging
• 60 g unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 white onion, finely chopped
• 150 ml dry white wine
• 400 g fresh tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and roughly chopped; or San Marzano canned tomatoes, drained
• 250 ml veal or chicken stock, warm
• For the gremolata
• 1 lemon, zest only, finely grated
• 1 garlic clove, very finely minced
• 2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• to taste salt and black pepper

Method

1. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
8. 8
   Remove the kitchen string. Taste the braising sauce and adjust salt. Serve the ossobuco in its sauce, marrow bone facing upward.