• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
Cooking @ Umami Days

Cooking @ Umami Days

Still meaty with a dash of veggies, but better.

  • Recipes
  • Cooking tips
  • Food Stories
  • Newsletter
  • Recipes
  • Cooking tips
  • Food Stories
  • Newsletter

Osso buco with gremolata served over pasta

A recipe with Beef, Pasta by Connie Veneracion | September 28, 2014 (Updated: April 11, 2025)
Inspired by a dish we once enjoyed at Almon Marina (it's been off the menu for a while), the beef shank is cooked the Italian osso buco stew style and served with the likewise traditional gremolata. The pasta is tossed in osso buco sauce.
Print
Osso buco with gremolata served over pasta
Prep Time 15 minutes minutes
Cook Time 2 hours hours 30 minutes minutes
Total Time 2 hours hours 45 minutes minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Servings 3 people

Connie’s Notes

The most visually exciting way to serve osso buco pasta is to top each plate of noodles with a whole cross cut of beef shank with the bone marrow intact and highly visible. Guaranteed to whet your appetite.
Traditional osso buco uses veal shanks. And veal shanks are not always easy to source in my part of the world. So, I use beef shank instead — preferably, from a not-so-mature animal.
In some meat shops, it is possible to choose the shank so that you can get pieces that are of the same size, more or less, and you can get the ones that look just right for a single portion.
However, if the only beef shanks available are rather large ones, you can roughly chop the meat and top the pasta with them. Not as sensational looking but just as delicious. And who gets the bone with the marrow can be negotiated or decided with a flip of the coin.
Note that the cooking time will vary depending on the size of the shanks and the quality of the meat.

Ingredients

  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 large cross-cut bone-in beef shank - or three small ones
  • ⅓ cup chopped onion
  • ⅓ cup chopped celery
  • ⅓ cup chopped carrot
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 tablespoon dried rosemary
  • ½ teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 bay leaf
  • ½ teaspoon oregano
  • salt
  • pepper
  • ½ cup dry white wine
  • ⅓ cup tomato paste
  • bone broth
  • cooked pasta - for three
  • grated Parmesan cheese

For the gremolata

  • finely grated zest of one lemon
  • 3 tablespoons chopped parsley
  • 2 tablespoons minced garlic
  • salt

Instructions
 

  1. In a pan wide enough to accommodate all pieces of beef shanks in a single layer, heat the olive oil and butter.
  2. Brown the beef shanks on all sides. Scoop up with a slotted spoon.
  3. Add the onion, celery, carrot, garlic, rosemary, thyme, bay leaf and oregano to the oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook, scraping the pan, for about a minute.
  4. Pour in the wine. Stir and scrape once more to loosen the browned bits at the bottom of the pan. Allow to boil, uncovered, for about five minutes.
  5. Stir in the tomato paste.
  6. Arrange the beef shanks in a single layer in the pan.
  7. Pour in enough broth to reach to about 3/4 of the height of the shanks.
  8. Season with more salt and pepper.
  9. Simmer for about hours hours or until the beef is fork tender. Make sure to check the amount of liquid as the beef simmers away. Add more broth, about half a cup at a time, if needed, and adjust the seasonings each time.
  10. While the beef simmers, make the gremolata by mixing together the grated lemon zest, three tablespoons of chopped parsley, two tablespoons of minced garlic and salt.
  11. When the meat is tender, scoop out the shanks carefully and keep hot.
  12. Pour the sauce into a strainer set over a large bowl. Using the back of a spoon, press as much of the soft vegetables through the strainer.
  13. Add the cooked pasta to the sauce and toss well.
  14. Ladle pasta into a plate or bowl and top with the osso buco.
  15. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan and gremolata.
Print

More Beef, Pasta

Beef lo mein with mushrooms and broccoli

Chow mein with beef, mushrooms and broccoli

Beef tongue in vinaigrette

Beef (ox) tongue in vinaigrette

Japanese beef rice bowl (gyudon)

Japanese beef rice bowl (gyudon)

Beef (ox) tongue tacos with spicy mango salsa

  • About
  • Privacy
  • Copyright
  • No AI
  • Contact

Created by a human for humans · Copyright © 2025 · Connie Veneracion · All Rights Reserved