Wagyu Beef Shanks Osso Buco

Today I’m taking a trip to Italy and making some Osso Buco with some Wagyu Beef Shanks. This delicious dish requires a long cooking time, enough to braise the meat and resulting into very tender meat that just falls off the bone. 

There are three important steps in this recipe to make sure to cook the shanks to their perfect tenderness. First I start by smoking them for about two hours, then I sear them to give them a nice caramelization and lock in the flavors, and lastly I’ll braise them with a mix of vegetables, red wine and tomatoes for 2 more hours. I know this sounds like quite a process, but I promise you it is worth the wait! 

As a side I’m making some creamy mashed potatoes 

Video Recipe

Directions for Osso Buco: 

1. Prepare your grill with an indirect setting, and light up your charcoal. Bring up the temperature to about 225F. 
2. Put a cast iron pan under your grill grates to catch all that flavorful fat.
3. Season your Beef shanks with Salt and Pepper
4. Place them on your grill to smoke for about 2 hours, 
5. In the meantime, let’s prepare the mirepoix, dice your onions, slice your carrots and celery.
6. Remove the shanks from the grill and crank up the heat in your grill to give them a nice sear. 
7. Sear the shanks about a minute each side, until you get that desired caramelization and crust, remove them from the heat and place them aside. 
8. Use a wok or a deep dish pan to braise the shanks. Place the wok on the fire and add about 2 tbsp of avocado oil. 
9. Add your mirepoix, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Let them cook for a minute. 
10. Add the San Marzano tomatoes, the Beef Shanks, the fat drippings from the smoking session and last but not least, the red wine. 
11. You want to braise your shanks until the meat is fall-off-the-bone tender and the sauce has reduced. My shanks took around 2 hrs and it's done!

Instructions Mashed Potatoes (do while Beef Shanks are braising) 

1. Boil the potatoes until tender, drain the water once done
2. Place the potatoes on the heat and add the milk and butter. Smash the potatoes until the milk and butter combine 
3. Add some salt and let the mashed potatoes until there’s not liquid. 
4. Serve

Let’s dig in… 

I plate this by putting a nice layer of mashed potatoes on the bottom and then the Osso Buco on top, with its decadent sauce. The meat was incredibly tender, making it hard to serve without it falling apart, but I’m not going to complain about that! 

I take a look at the bones, and I see some nice bone marrow so I give it a try and it's incredibly rich - some nice toast would go perfectly with it. But let’s get into the star of the show the Osso Buco. My first bite just gives me that warm feeling that comfort food usually gives me. The mix of the sauce, meat and potatoes just hits a homerun! I definitely recommend you to try this out, yes it's a bit time consuming but well worth the wait. 

Have you made Osso Buco before? - let me know in the comments!