Ossibuchi & Oltrepò

Milano is known for a number of dishes, including cotoletta alla milanese, ossobuco, and risotto alla milanese. The former, which is quite easy and very tasty if properly done, has spread throughout the rest of the Peninsula. The other two haven't -- people often refer to them in hushed tones, as if there were great secrets involved in their preparation. It's a pity, because they're both very good, and neither is particularly difficult. As is the case with any recipe, much of the final success hinges upon the quality of the ingredients, so purchase your meat from a good butcher, and your saffron from a reputable spice merchant, and you should be fine.

The word ossobuco literally translates as "bone with a hole through it," which is an apt description of a veal shank. In selecting your meat, choose ossibuchi cut from high up the shank, towards the shoulder, which will have marrow in the center of the ring of bone. Connoisseurs consider the marrow, which gains a wondrously satiny texture as it cooks, the highlight of the dish and scoop it from the bone with tiny spoons.

Purists also prefer that their ossibuchi be served on a bed of plain white rice -- Italian risotto rice such as Arborio or Vialone Nano, though Oriental Basmati would also be nice -- that they may enjoy the meat's flavor to the fullest. However, many people prefer to serve ossibuchi on a bed of risotto alla milanese, a tasty saffron-laced risotto whose renown has increased considerably since Gualtiero Marchesi, Italy's top Chef, began serving it with a leaf of beaten gold laid over it (others may have done so before, but he caught people's attention). In any case,

To serve 4 you will need:

• 4 slices of veal shank an inch thick and 6-7 inches across, about a pound and a half in all. Select pieces cut from closer to the shoulder, which will have a higher meat/bone ratio, and will also have some marrow in the bone
• Flour
• A small onion, minced
• 2 tablespoons butter
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 2/3 cup hot broth or water (have more handy)
• 1-2 tablespoons tomato sauce or 2 teaspoons tomato paste diluted in water (optional)
  
  

For the Gremolada (the mixture of herbs added at the end):

• 3 cloves garlic
• The leaves of a sprig of rosemary
• 2 leaves sage
• A small bunch of parsley
• The zest of a small lemon, grated
• 1-2 anchovies, rinsed and boned (quite optional)

Make cuts at several points in the membranes surrounding the ossibuchi or they will shrink, causing the ossibuchi to curl as they cook.

Melt the butter in a heavy bottomed pan or Dutch oven large enough to hold the ossibuchi without stacking them, and sauté the onion, seasoning it with salt and pepper to taste, till the onions are translucent.

Meanwhile, flour the ossibuchi. Then remove the onion from the pan, setting it aside, and brown the ossibuchi on both sides, sprinkling them every now and then with the wine. When the wine is completely evaporated, return the onion to the pot, and add the broth and tomato paste. Check the seasoning and simmer, covered, until done (about two hours - the meat should be very tender). If need be, add more broth to keep the ossibuchi from drying out.

While the ossibuchi are simmering, prepare the gremolada by mincing and combining the ingredients. When the ossibuchi are done, remove them to a platter. Reduce the sauce, if necessary, and add to it the gremolada. Cook the sauce for another minute, then pour it over the meat and serve, over a bed of rice or risotto alla Milanese.

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Risotto alla Milanese

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Artusi remarked, a little more than a century ago, that the preparation of risotto alla milanese is best left to the Milanese and then gave three recipes (two are in my translation of his book) -- this suggests he thought others should enjoy it too. It is true that the dish offers a great chef an excellent opportunity to showcase her talents, but a home cook can do very well with care.

To serve 6:

• 3 cups (600g) Carnaroli or Vialone Nano rice
• 1 1/2 quarts good meat broth, boiling hot
• 2/3 cup sweet butter
• 2 1/4 ounces beef marrow (get this from your butcher, or an oriental market), minced
• A small onion, finely sliced
• 1 cup dry white or tannic red (not oaky) wine, warmed (optional)
• 20 saffron pistils (this will be 1.5 grams powdered saffron)
• 2 1/3 cups grated Parmigiano (half this if you are using the risotto as a bed for ossibuchi)
• 6 sheets real gold leaf (quite optional, as garnish if you're serving the risotto as the first course of a somewhat extravagant meal)

Place the saffron pistils in a bowl to steep with some of the meat broth.

In a casserole, simmer the finely sliced onion and the beef marrow in half the butter over an extremely low flame for about 10 minutes; the onion should become translucent but not brown.

Remove the onion and marrow with a slotted spoon and set them aside. Sauté the rice over a moderate flame for 7-10 minutes, stirring constantly lest the rice stick and burn. About a minute before the rice is done, return the onion mixture to the pot.

Stir in a first ladle of the hot broth, and once most has been absorbed, another, stirring and adding liquid until the rice is almost at the al dente stage.

Stir in the saffron pistils, the remainder of the butter, half the cheese, turn of the flame, and let the risotto sit covered for a minute.

Then serve it, either as a bed for ossibuchi or as a first course, with the remainder of the cheese on the side. If you are serving the risotto with the gold leaf, divvy it into individual portions in the kitchen and carefully lay a sheet of gold over each.

Note: if you include the wine (I would), stir it into the rice after you have sautéed it, and let it evaporate before you stir in any boiling broth. It is very important that it be warm, because the addition of cold liquid will shock the rice and make it flake.

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While we're on the subject of ossobuco, here's a recipe my mother-in-law makes for Sunday dinner during the winter:

Ossibuchi al Sugo -- Ossibuchi with Meat Sauce

• A medium onion, minced
• A medium carrot, minced
• A medium stick of celery, minced
• A small bunch parsley, minced
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 pound ground beef
• 4 slices of veal shank about 1 inch thick and 6-7 across, about a pound and a half in all
• 1/2 cup dry red wine
• A 1-pound can canned tomatoes
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup grated Parmigiano, served at the table
• 1 pound short pasta, such as penne, cooked in lightly salted boiling water

Make cuts at several points in the membranes surrounding the ossibuchi or they will shrink, causing the ossibuchi to curl as they cook.

Mince the onion, carrot, celery, and parsley. Set the oil to heat in a Dutch oven or earthenware pot big enough to hold the ossibuchi without stacking them and sauté the minced mixture till the onion's translucent. Stir in the ground beef and continue cooking till it's browned, then add the ossibuchi and cook, turning them once so as to brown them on both sides.

As soon as they've browned, add the wine and reduce to a simmer. When the wine's evaporated, add the tomatoes and simmer, partially covered, till the ossibuchi are quite tender (2 1/2 - 3 hours). Season to taste, keeping in mind that the sauce will thicken and become more concentrated. Turn the ossibuchi occasionally, stirring the sugo to keep it from sticking, and check seasoning when they're almost done.

Heat the water and cook the pasta; serve the pasta with the sugo and the grated cheese as a first course, and the ossibuchi with the vegetable of your choice as a second course. If it's very cold outside, use a pound rather than half a pound of ground beef, and serve spinaci rifatti with some of the sauce poured over them (this is an extremely traditional way of serving spinach in Tuscany).

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Vercesi del Castellazzo

What wine to serve these with? The standard answer would be (especially for ossibuchi alla milanese) a rich tannic wine along the lines of a Barolo, Barbaresco, Valpolicella Classico Superiore, or Chianti Classico Riserva. Hardly anyone would think of an Oltrepò Pavese. Nor could one blame them, since the region is damned by geography: it's about an hour's drive from Milano, and is where the Milanese go to buy demijohns of cheap wine. Consequently most producers in the region go for volume rather than quality. Most, but not all; at Vinitaly this year I stopped at a stand run by four producers who are investing in quality and was quite impressed. One was Vercesi del Castellazzo; Giuseppe Vercesi grinned ruefully when he told me that some of his neighbors accuse him of presenting old wine when he gets out a Pinot Bianco 96.

The area is indeed known for Pinot, and has been for a very long time -- the Romans who lived in the region cultivated a grape that may have been ancestral to Pinot, whereas the current Pinot stocks were brought by monks in the 1600s and 1700s, and replanted on modern rootstocks following the great phyloxera crisis. The region also has Barbera, which was imported from Piemonte in the 1800s, and a number of indigenous grapes, the most interesting of which is Vespolino. It is unfortunately not as common as it once was, because most producers have replaced it with Pinot -- the Oltrepò supplies grapes to much of Italy's sparkling wine industry.

Vercesi del Castellazzo Pinot Nero Bianco 1996, a blanc de noirs, is a pale white and has a dry bouquet with slight spicy notes nicely balanced by fruit. On the palate the wine is moderately full, clean, and has a slightly tart finish. It will work nicely chilled, as an aperitif, and also go nicely with risotti, rich fish such as salmon, and vegetable-based dishes.

Vercesi del Castellazzo Vespolino is from an autochthonous grape that is both tannic and acidic; to tone down these qualities is vinified rather like a white despite its being red: 48-72 hours of cold maceration on the skins, followed by racking and fermentation of the must. The current vintage is a pale ruby red with a pink rim, and has an intriguing, highly aromatic spicy (non-wood) bouquet laced with cherry fruit. On the palate it is medium-bodied and fairly acidic, with nice fruit bolstered by substantial tannins; the finish is warm and tart. In many ways it resembles Grignolino, and should be served under similar circumstances: at picnics, with barbecued foods, and with cold cuts and such. Not a meditation wine, but very nice under the proper circumstances.

Vercesi del Castellazzo Luogo dei Monti Pinot Nero 1994 is another matter entirely. It's a deep purple black with faint orange tints on the rim, and has a delicate bouquet in which fruit, underbrush, and spicy notes from wood are well balanced, with warm vinous overtones. On the palate it is medium bodied and quite elegant, round, with nice fruit, especially cherry, and elegant tannins that still have a slight burr to them. The finish is clean, and extremely pleasant. This is an excellent wine that will go superbly with the ossibuchi presented above, or other roasts and braised meats. It also has a number of years of life yet. Worth seeking out.

One of the advantages of Vinitaly is that you get to taste and compare; the 1991 vintage of the wine is the same color and has a slightly more delicate bouquet, with lots of fruit on the palate. Again superb, though in this case at its peak.

1990 was a better year than 1991, so it's no surprise that the 1990 vintage of the wine was somewhat fuller. The bouquet is quite delicate, with nice cherry fruit well balanced by wood. On the palate it's extremely elegant and moderately full bodied, with rich round tannins, nice fruit, and a clean, long bitter cherry finish. This is the sort of wine you regret discovering at a wine tasting, rather than during a meal.

Vercesi del Castellazzo Fàtila Bonarda is obtained from Croatina, another indigenous grape; fermentation is in steel, followed by a year of barriques. The 94 vintage is a deep ruby with a pink rim, and has an elegant bouquet with nicely balanced fruit and wood. On the palate it is quite round, with rich fruit and medium body, and has a clean fruit finish. Of their wines it's the wine I liked best, and would certainly recommend seeking it out. It will go nicely with braised light meats, roasted white meats, rich risotti, and mild cheeses.

Vercesi del Castellazzo Orto San Giacomo is a blend of Pinot Nero, Cabernet Sauvignon, Bonarda and Barbera vinified separately, then assembled and aged for a year in barriques. The 95 vintage is a pale ruby with a pink rim, and has a clean bouquet with cherry fruit well balanced by warmth and wood. On the palate it is extremely round, in part because of the Cabernet, and has lots of fruit well balanced by wood; it has a pleasing mild acidity, and a long clean fruit finish. It will go well with roasts and red meats.

Good Food & Drink,
Kyle Phillips

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The recipes are drawn from several sources; all translations, remarks & photos © Kyle Phillips.