Veal Shanks with Tomato Sauce and Gremolata
Back to Osso Buco (Veal Shanks)
Last updated
- Prep
- 25 min
- Bath
- 36 hours
- Total
- 36 hr 38 min
- Yield
- 2 generous servings
Main Coursevealosso-bucogremolata
Ingredients
- 2 cross-cut veal shanks totaling 2 to 3 lb
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp white miso
- 1/4 cup dry red wine
- 1/2 small onion, finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced, for the pouch
- 2 thyme sprigs
- 1 bay leaf
- Salt and black pepper
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small shallot, finely diced
- 1 can (14 1/2 oz) crushed tomatoes, for the separate sauce
- 1/2 cup low-sodium beef stock
- 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1 small garlic clove, finely minced, for the gremolata
- Prepared polenta, for serving
Method
Prepare
- Keep each veal shank and its bone together. Mix the tomato paste, miso, wine, onion, pouch garlic, thyme, bay, salt, and pepper. Coat the shanks and bag flat without overlap, following the method below.
- Keep the crushed tomatoes, stock, shallot, parsley, lemon, and gremolata garlic separate for serving.
Cook
- Set the water bath to 160°F.
- For Soft Braised Shanks, use two cross-cut veal shanks totaling 2 to 3 pounds, fully thawed and refrigerator-cold. The source gives no individual thickness limit; every thick area must be measurable with a food thermometer. Keep the bone and surrounding meat together. Beef, pork, and lamb shanks need separate methods. Mix 1 tablespoon each tomato paste and white miso with 1/4 cup red wine, half a diced onion, two minced garlic cloves, two thyme sprigs, one bay leaf, salt, and pepper. Coat the shanks and bag flat without overlap, dividing the mixture between bags if needed. Fully submerge the sealed bags in a verified, preheated circulating bath with water space around every bag. Start timing at immersion and complete the full listed time without interruption. Cover the bath and monitor the water level so every pouch stays submerged throughout the long cook. The listed time covers the bath stage. Allow additional time for the thermometer check, any hotter cooking, and finishing. Check the thickest center of every piece, avoiding bone, fat, and gristle; check several places in large or uneven pieces. Every measured spot must reach 145°F before finishing. Continue cooking in a skillet or oven and recheck every cooler spot. Bath time, color, tenderness, and browning do not replace this check. Use clean utensils and discard all pouch liquid. Keep cooked food away from raw food, used bags, and utensils used for raw food. Discard the pouch aromatics as well as the liquid. Lift each shank carefully with a wide spatula; the softened meat can separate from the bone. Keep the meat whole through the check and finish, then rest at least 3 minutes after the final heat before cutting, pulling, or serving immediately. Spoon a separately prepared sauce over the rested shanks, add gremolata, and serve. These methods cover immediate service only, not frozen starts, chilling, storage, reheating, or holding. Frozen, stuffed, rolled, injected, cured, or unmeasurable shanks are excluded. Do not substitute the other shank method's preparation or size rules.
- Cook for 36 hours if you are cooking two cross-cut veal shanks totaling 2 to 3 pounds, fully thawed and refrigerator-cold, with the stated tomato, miso, wine, and aromatic mixture; every thick area must be measurable.
- Near serving time, soften the shallot in the olive oil. Add the crushed tomatoes and stock and simmer until thick enough to spoon over the veal. Season to taste.
- Mix the parsley, lemon zest, and gremolata garlic in a clean bowl. Prepare polenta separately.
Check before finishing
- At the end of the bath, open the pouch and transfer each piece intact to a clean surface with clean utensils. Discard the pouch liquid and any sauce that touched raw food.
- Use a clean food thermometer. Check the thickest center of every piece, avoiding bone, fat, and gristle; check several places in large or uneven pieces.
- Every spot you check must reach 145°F. If any reading is lower, keep cooking with a method hot enough to reach this temperature and check each cooler spot again. Complete this check before finishing.
Finish
- After the center check, lift the shanks gently with a wide spatula onto clean plates. Discard all pouch contents; use only the separate sauce for serving.
Rest
- After the final heat, rest every piece for at least 3 minutes before cutting, pulling, or serving.
Serve
- After the required rest, spoon the warm tomato sauce over the shanks, scatter with gremolata, and serve immediately with polenta.
Want another texture or thickness?
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