Here’s the main dish I served at a recent feast. Fork-tender and so savory – just how I like meat, on the rare occasions I eat it. And not hard to make at all. Your oven will do most of the work for you.
I liberally scattered fresh, green fava beans over the osso bucco. They were delicious, but a pain to prepare. You not only have to remove the beans from the pod, you have to make a slit in the waxy white covering of each bean and pop it out, by hand. The Little One got that job.
We ate them piled up on toasted slices of sourdough bread. Next time, I’ll use frozen favas, or just steam some green beans and serve them on the side.
You’ll need chicken stock or soup ready, and some red wine.
Lamb Osso Bucco Recipe
PrintYield5 people
Ingredients
- 2 lbs lamb slices (cut off the neck, bone in – about 10 round slices)
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion (chopped)
- 1/2 cup celery (diced)
- 5 cloves garlic (peeled and chopped)
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cup dry red wine
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 2 tomatoes (chopped)
Instructions
- Put the flour on a large platter and season it with salt and pepper. Drag each slice of lamb through the flour on both sides, coating it well.
- Use a large skillet. Heat the olive oil a little, then brown the lamb slices on both sides. Set the browned meat aside on another platter.
- Using the same skillet and perhaps adding a touch more olive oil, cook the chopped onion, carrots and celery with the bay leaves. When the vegetables are becoming tender, add the garlic. Cook 1 minute more.
- Raise the flame and pour the red wine into the vegetables, stirring gently to deglaze.
- When the wine is mostly evaporated, add the meat and the tomatoes.
- Now you can either finish the cooking in the skillet, if it’s oven-proof, or place the meat and vegetables in a baking dish. Either way…
- Stir everything up, then add the chicken stock.
- Place the skillet or baking dish in the oven. Cover it. Bake for 2 hours or until the irresistible aroma drives you to fork a piece right out of the oven.
- Serve right out of the skillet or piled up on a warm platter. Scatter with fava beans or not – but serve with a steamed green vegetable to foil the richness of the meat.
