Awesome Buco

I am a big fan of this dish. Osso Buco is Italian for bone with a hole, and that is the key to this dish. You buy a veal shank or beef shank and it has the round bone in the center with the hole in it. The bone adds tons of flavor to the liquid it cooks in. I think of it as a more fancy Italian Pot roast. It can really have a pretty presentation and it tastes amazing. The best part is that it only takes about 90 minutes in the oven so you don’t need to spend the whole day cooking it. I have never used veal shanks because I have not sought them out but I am sure you could get them at a local butcher. Beef Shanks are pretty cheap and at most grocery stores but they also are pretty fatty so if I make it again I will probably use the veal.

The recipe I use is this one from Giada, she is my go to girl for any Italian recipe. I do not use the cloves or the lemon zest in my version. I usually serve it with some of the sauce over Orzo – small rice shaped pasta, but last night I made pappardelle, which is a very wide pasta, and it was delicious. Pappardelle is Italian for “gobble it up” and you will with these giant noodles. They can be a compliment to any great pasta recipe as they soak up the sauce just right. I actually bought pasta sheets (never saw these before, imagine all I can make, and they were cheap!) at the grocery store and cut the pappardelle myself, just by slicing the pasta sheets into long strips. I saw this on Chopped so I was feeling all professional as I did it :). So it looked fancy but it was not labor intensive. The sauce is simple, just carrots, celery, onion, wine and tomato paste with some herbs, and that is all it needs. If you are looking to try a great Italian recipe to impress some guests or just your tummy, check this out!