10th June 2014
Milan-style Ossobuco and ceps risotto
The other day I made a grilled chicken with lemon and did not feel like throwing the remains away so I turned it into a chicken stock. Then my wife suggested I made risotto and then I saw nice veal shank at the butcher’s. The ossobuco, “bone with a hole” can be made in advance and is even nicer when reheated. It also takes several hours. Risotto is best eaten straight off the stove, because of the grated cheese, but leftovers can be reheated later.
Ingredients
- Butter
- Olive oil
- White wine
- White pepper
For the ossobuco
- Two veal shanks, bone preferably in the middle
- A chunk of celery
- One carrot
- One onion
- A tin of tomatoes
- A sliver of lemon rind
- Basil, bay leave, thyme
- Flour
For the risotto
- One litre of chicken stock
- 150 grammes of dried ceps
- 50 grammes of freshly grated parmesan
- Two shallots
- 200 grammes of rise (arborio or carnaroli)
- Ceps soaking liquid
- Two cloves of garlic
Steps
- Tie some string around the meat to hold it together.
- Chop the celery stick, onion and carrot
- Heat butter and oil in a skillet
- Dip the meat in flour and brown in skillet.
- Dip the other side in flour and repeat.
- Set aside, deglaze skillet with white wine
- Heat butter in a casserole
- Add the vegetables and brown
- Add the meat and pour the juice from the skillet over it.
- Add the tomatoes, lemon zest, herbs and bring to the boil
- Preheat an oven to 150 °C degrees
- Put the closed casserole in the oven and cook for two hours, turning the meat every 20 minutes.
- Add pepper and set aside until the next day
- Soak the ceps in some tepid water
- Heat the chicken stock
- Chop the onion and garlic finely
- Put oil and butter in a large casserole
- Add the rice and stir, browning slightly
- Add the vegetables and stir
- When the rice seems to start sticking, add the wine and keep stirring.
- Continue for 20 minutes, adding stock and the soaking liquid from time to time when the rice seems to be getting dry.
- Meanwhile chop the ceps and grate the cheese.
- Shortly before the end (taste to check the ‘bite’ of the rice), add the ceps and cheese. Stir and present.
- Some people add butter or cream at the end but that makes it more fat without a big gain in taste.