Beef Osso Buco Recipe

I've been loving my slow cooker this winter, especially since having a baby because I can just whack a bunch of things in there in the morning, and by dinner time we have a delicious meal ready to go. 

Instead of doing my usual beef stew, I thought I'd try making Osso Buco, a dish made traditionally with veal shanks. I don't like to eat veal, so made it with beef shanks instead and it still turned out great. Its such an easy meal with only a small amount of prep required, but tastes like you've spent all day cooking!

Ingredients

1 kilo veal or beef shanks (cross cut)

2 tablespoons plain flour 

1 tablespoon olive oil 

2 medium red onions, coarsely chopped 

2 garlic cloves, crushed
3 medium carrots, thickly sliced 

2 sticks celery, thickly sliced 

410g can crushed tomatoes 

2/3 cup (165ml) dry white wine 

1 cup (250ml) beef stock
2 teaspoons dried Italian herbs 

2 tablespoons tomato paste 

Cooked polenta, to serve

Coat the veal or beef in the flour, and brown in a deep pan with olive oil.

Remove the browned meat, and add the prepared onions, garlic, carrots and celery to the same pan. Cook for around 5 minutes until starting to brown and soften.

Add the cooked vegetables to the bottom of the slow cooker. Place the browned meat on top, and then add the tomatoes, tomato paste, wine, beef stock and herbs on top. Turn on the slow cooker to low and cook for at least 6 hours or until the meat is tender and falls off the bone. 

The result:

I served this with creamy polenta, the perfect winter meal!

Give it a go, you'll love it.

Riette

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