# The Simple Method to Create Incredibly Tender, Fall Apart Beefy Bone Marrow-y Osso Buco
When visiting an excellent Italian restaurant, how frequently do you bypass the pasta section to savor a filling dish of osso buco? If you’re like many, the frequency is seldom. Osso buco, featuring a slow-braised beef shank steeped in a savory, bone marrow-rich tomato sauce, is a gastronomic delight that warrants a place on your dinner menu. The greatest advantage? You can replicate this restaurant-quality experience at home with an Instant Pot in roughly an hour, making it ideal for both festive occasions and weekday meals.
## What is Osso Buco?
Osso buco, meaning “bone with a hole” in Italian, is a classic dish from Lombardy, Italy. It traditionally highlights veal shank braised for hours in a white wine and bone marrow-infused sauce. The extended cooking duration helps break down the connective tissues in the shank, yielding tender, fall-apart meat that dissolves in your mouth. The marrow from the bone contributes a decadent richness to the dish, elevating its flavor profile.
Although the original recipe didn’t include tomatoes (as they are a New World ingredient), contemporary adaptations frequently add them for enhanced depth. This recipe elevates it further by utilizing passata, a fresh tomato puree, for a livelier flavor. However, if you lack passata, high-quality canned tomatoes will suffice.
## How to Prepare Osso Buco
### Ingredients:
– 1 slice of beef or veal shank (approximately 1 pound)
– 1/4 medium onion, diced
– 1 small carrot, diced
– 2 cloves garlic, sliced
– 1 cup white wine (Pinot Grigio or a preferred Italian white)
– 1/2 cup passata (or crushed tomatoes)
– 1-2 sprigs of fresh herbs (like oregano, thyme, or bay leaves)
### Instructions:
1. **Brown the Shank**: Utilize the sauté function on your Instant Pot to sear the beef shank for 2-3 minutes on each side. This step is essential for flavor development.
2. **Cook Aromatics**: Take out the shank and incorporate the diced onion, carrot, and garlic into the pot. Sauté until tender and translucent, roughly 2 minutes.
3. **Deglaze with Wine**: Add the white wine and scrape any browned residue from the pot’s bottom. Let the wine simmer until reduced by half, which should take about 2 minutes.
4. **Braise**: Put the shank back into the pot, add the passata and herbs, and set the Instant Pot to high pressure for 1 hour. After cooking, use a quick release.
5. **Serve**: Relish your osso buco adorned with grated cheese, red pepper flakes, and fresh parsley if desired.
## Instant Pot Osso Buco
The Instant Pot revolutionizes the osso buco preparation process, significantly shortening the cooking time from several hours to merely one. If you don’t own an Instant Pot, you can still prepare this dish by simmering it on the stovetop or in a Dutch oven, though expect a longer cooking time of 4-6 hours.
### Stovetop or Oven Method:
– Sear the shank and aromatics in a Dutch oven.
– Pour in the wine and reduce.
– Add the remaining ingredients, covering and cooking on low heat for 4-6 hours, checking occasionally to maintain adequate liquid.
## Crock Pot Osso Buco
For those who favor a slow cooker, you can modify the recipe as follows:
1. Sear the shank in a skillet and move it to the crock pot.
2. Sauté the vegetables in the same skillet until tender, then add the wine to deglaze.
3. Transfer everything to the crock pot and cook on high for 5-6 hours, switching to low after 2 hours.
## The Dinner and Chill Special
This streamlined version of osso buco emphasizes the key flavors without the complications of traditional recipes, which typically involve more ingredients and steps. The absence of flour dredging not only minimizes mess but also permits the natural richness of the bone marrow to thicken the sauce.
## Veal vs. Beef Shank
While veal is the classic selection for osso buco, beef shank is often more readily available and cost-effective. If you are able to find veal shank, it’s worth experimenting with for authenticity; however, beef shank will equally yield delightful results.
## Serving Suggestions
Osso buco