Meltingly tender lamb shank osso bucco with a rich sauce of caramelized onions and pan drippings is a take on the classic Italian osso bucco you won’t want to miss. In Italian cuisine, slow-cooked shanks are known as osso bucco or “bone with a mouth” referring to the marrow bone in the center. This version is different than classic Osso Bucco Milanese, where tender veal shanks are served with saffron risotto.
Lamb osso bucco with caramelized onions.
Here I simmer shanks with a generous amount of sweet caramelized onions, spooning them and the tender shanks on top of a simple, creamy white risotto.
Lamb Osso Bucco Ingredients
You’ll need lamb shanks, a little bacon, brandy, stock, spices, and a few yellow onions. The most important thing to make sure you have is time, since this recipe requires carefully browning the meat, and then slowly browning the caramelized onions.
ingredients for our lamb shank osso bucco.
Cut shanks will make the best osso bucco.
How to Make Lamb Osso Bucco
First you season the shanks with salt and pepper and brown them in a heavy pot. Then you remove the shanks, render some bacon and add onions to the pan, cooking until caramelized. When the onions are browned, you add some brandy and stock and cook the shanks until tender. The images below describe the process, and the full method is shown in the video.
Season the lamb shanks with salt and pepper.
Render the bacon to release the fat.
Brown the lamb shanks in the fat.
Thinly slice the yellow onions.
Cook the onions in the lamb fat.
Cook the onions until caramelized.
Add the shanks and stock to the pot.
Cover the pot with a lid of parchment paper and a lid.
Chill the cooked shanks and remove the fat.
Gather nuts, parsley and orange zest and chop to make gremolata.
Chef Alan Bergo
While the shanks are cooking you put together the rice and gremolata. I use orange zest and hickory nuts, but parsley, lemon zest and pine nuts are traditional. Both of these are optional but make the dish a special occasion treat. If you want, you could make the shanks in a crock pot and serve them with some mashed potatoes for a simpler meal.
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1.5tablespoonstoasted nutslike pine nuts, sunflower seeds, or hazelnuts
1/3cupItalian Parsley
½Tablespoonlemon zest
For the White Risotto (optional)
½cuprisotto rice
¼cupwhite wine
Lambchicken, or vegetable stock, as needed, a few cups
½cupgrated parmesan cheese
2Tablespoonsunsalted butter
2tablespoonsfinely diced yellow onion
2teaspoonslard or cooking oil
Instructions
Osso Bucco
Separate the shank pieces with a heavy knife if needed or still attached to each other. Season the shanks with salt and pepper. In a braising dish, render the bacon in a tablespoon of the fat or oil until crisp, then reserve, keeping the fat in the pan. Add the shanks to the pan and brown, then remove.
Add onions to the pan and cook for 30 min, stirring and deglazing with some stock occasionally if they threaten to burn, until the onions are browned and nicely caramelized.
Add the garlic, ginger, bacon, bay leaf, remaining stock, cinnamon stick and shank pieces back to the pan, cover with parchment, then a lid, and bake at 300 F for 1.5-2 hours, or until the shank meat moves from the bone. Watch the shanks and don't overcook them-they shouldn’t fall apart.
Chill the shanks and skim off the fat (optional). To serve, reheat the shanks gently, stirring and adding spoonfuls of stock to create a natural jus.
When the shanks are hot, adjust the seasoning for salt then divide some of the risotto between two heated bowls, spoon 2 shank pieces on top of each, spoon some of the onions and sauce over each one, garnish with a sprinkle of the gremolata, and serve immediately.
Gremolata
Toast the nuts and cool. Very finely dice or grate the citrus zest. Chop the parsley and the nuts together roughly, then mix with the citrus zest and reserve.
White risotto
Sweat the onion in the oil but do not color. Add the rice and cook for a few minutes, then deglaze with the wine, cook down, add a ¼ cup of stock at a time and cook, stirring constantly, until the rice is cooked.
When the rice is just done, add the butter and cheese and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon, then double check the seasoning, adjust as needed, and serve immediately.