Chicken "osso bucco" with gremolata
19 January 2015
I have a confession: when I was a kid growing up in Italy I used to eat veal, blissfully unaware that it was a baby cow. Veal is really popular over there and is particularly appreciated for its tenderness and delicate colour. I haven’t eaten it since moving to the UK. I leave it up to you: this dish is traditionally cooked with shin of veal so that you end up with a thick slice of meat, a ring of bone and soft, slightly wobbly bone- marrow on your plate. If that gives you the shivers then I’d stick to good ol’ chicken breast and get the depth of the flavours from the other ingredients – the combination is luxurious even with chicken.
Ingredients
For the osso bucco
- Chicken breasts – as many as you need for your family
- 1 finely chopped onion
- Tomato passata
- Extra dry Vermouth
- A couple of handfuls of red split lentils
- Olive oil
- Seasoning
For the gremolata
- Two fat cloves of garlic - crushed
- Zest of 2 lemons
- Lots of finely chopped parsley
Step 1
Gently fry the onions in the olive oil until soft and translucent.
Step 2
Add the chicken breasts cut into strips and brown in the pot with the onions
Step 3
Tip the passata into the chicken and onion mix and pour in a good glug of Vermouth and season to taste. Bring it to a steady simmer and throw in a couple of handfuls of red lentils – or more if you wish to have a thicker sauce but don’t overdo it or it will end up a bit too solid.
Step 4
As you let the mixture bubble away, prepare the gremolata – an easy job. Simply mix together the crushed garlic, chopped parsley and lemon zest and you now have an incredibly versatile topping that is punchy and utterly irresistible.
The chicken mix is ready when you have a deliciously rich sauce and the
lentils appear to have melted away. Osso Bucco is traditionally served on a bed of risotto dotted with vibrant green peas, and the whole is topped with a sprinkling of gremolata. This is how I like it best but speed is of essence in my life and I honestly don’t have time to cook risotto mid-week as a proper one, done correctly takes a good 45 minutes.
In short, in the interests of speed I would suggest using the easy cook brown rice and throwing in a handful of peas towards the end of cooking. Don’t forget your greens on the side – they’ll look beautiful next to the deep red of your “osso bucco”. Sprinkle liberally with the gremolata and just make sure that everyone around has some too – it’s quite fierce!