Ossobuco

How to make it

1. Snip the thin membrane around each veal shank slice in 3-4 places, cutting all the way to the meat. Otherwise the membrane will contract in the heat and warp the slice out of shape. Tie a piece of kitchen twine tightly around each slice so the meat stays in place around the marrow bone. The slice should lie flat and round on the board, like a little pillow. ⏱ 10 min
2. Turn the slices in the flour on both sides and shake off the excess. Only a thin, dry layer should remain, since the flour gives the crust and later lightly binds the sauce.
3. Melt the butter for the ossobuco in a wide, heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat until it foams. Add the slices in a single layer and brown for 10 minutes, turning as you go. They are ready when both sides have a deep golden-brown crust and release from the bottom on their own. Remove the slices and set aside. ⏱ 10 min
   Chef's tip Listen for a steady, lively sizzle. If it goes quiet, the pot is crowded and the slices are steaming — brown them in two batches instead, and let each side sit untouched until it lifts freely.
4. Turn down to low heat and sauté the finely chopped onion for the ossobuco in the browned butter for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. The onion should become soft and completely translucent without taking on color, since browned onion makes the sauce bitter.
5. Return the browned slices to the pot in a single layer and pour in the white wine for the ossobuco. Let it cook down for 5 minutes, until the sharp wine aroma is gone and the liquid has turned syrupy around the meat.
   Chef's tip Scrape the bottom as the wine bubbles — the browned film loosens once liquid hits it, and that fond is most of the sauce's depth. Cook until it no longer smells sharply of alcohol.
6. Pour in the veal stock for the ossobuco until it reaches halfway up the slices, and season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce to the gentlest simmer, where only the occasional bubble breaks the surface. Let the meat simmer for one and a half to two hours, turning the slices once partway through. It is done when the meat yields and releases from the marrow bone at a light press with the spoon. ⏱ 1 h 30 min–2 h · passive
   Chef's tip Stock only halfway up matters: the exposed top keeps a braise rather than a boil. A rolling simmer squeezes the muscle fibres tight and dry, so if bubbles cluster at the surface, drop the heat or slide the pot half off the burner.
7. Carefully lift out the slices with a slotted spoon, so the marrow stays in the bone. Reduce the sauce over high heat for 5 minutes, until it's lightly syrupy and coats the back of a spoon in a thin layer. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Return the slices to the reduced sauce and keep warm over the lowest heat.
8. Make the gremolata while the meat is keeping warm. Finely chop the parsley leaves and the garlic clove. Zest the lemon, stopping before the white pith, which tastes bitter. Combine the three components in a small bowl and cover it, so the aroma stays in the bowl until serving.
9. Heat the veal stock for the risotto in a saucepan for 8 minutes, then keep it just below a boil. It should steam without bubbling, since cold stock slows the rice down every time you add more. ⏱ 8 min · passive
10. Pour 1 dl of the hot stock into a small bowl, add the saffron threads, and let steep for 10 minutes, until the liquid is a deep orange-red. ⏱ 10 min · passive
11. Melt half the butter for the risotto together with the finely chopped beef marrow in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the small finely chopped onion and sauté for 5 minutes, until the marrow has rendered clear and the onion is soft and translucent without color.
12. Add the rice and toast for 2-4 minutes, stirring. It's ready when the grains are hot, the edges look glassy, and the centers are still chalky white.
13. Pour in the white wine for the risotto and stir for about 2 minutes. The wine should cook off completely, and the bottom should be nearly dry again.
14. Add the hot stock, about 1 dl at a time, stirring almost constantly for 10 minutes. Each time, wait until the previous ladleful has been absorbed before adding the next. It's the stirring that draws out the starch and makes the risotto creamy. ⏱ 10 min
    Chef's tip The liquid should just come up around the rice, never cover it. If the grains are swimming, they boil instead of being scraped against one another, and you end up with rice pudding rather than creamy risotto.
15. Stir in the saffron-colored stock and continue adding stock the same way for 8 minutes. The rice should be tender with a slight bite at the center, and the mixture should slowly flow back together after the spoon.
    Chef's tip Take the pot off the heat 1-2 minutes before the rice feels done. It keeps cooking in the residual heat while the butter and cheese are stirred in, and a grain that's perfect now will be soft and mushy on the plate.
16. Remove the pot from the heat. Stir in the cold cubed butter and the freshly grated Grana Padano with vigorous strokes for 2 minutes, until the risotto is glossy and creamy. Season to taste with salt afterward, since the cheese adds its own salt.
    Chef's tip Off the heat and cold butter both matter here: too hot and the fat separates into greasy pools instead of binding into the starch. Loosen with a splash of stock if it stiffens — it should spread slowly on the plate, not stand in a mound.
17. Snip the twine off the slices. Spread a wide, flat bed of risotto on each flat plate and set an ossobuco on top with the marrow bone facing up. Spoon the reduced sauce over the meat and scatter the gremolata on just before serving, so the lemon and garlic stay fresh. Place a small spoon beside each plate — the marrow is scraped out of the bone and eaten with the first bite of meat.