Osso buco is a classic dish, but that doesn’t mean you have to stick to old-fashioned methods to prepare it. While beef pieces usually require a long, slow stew to become tender, using a pressure cooker significantly reduces cooking time. The meat is browned in the kitchen, vegetables are added, then white wine, meat broth and tomatoes are mixed to make a tasty and meaty sauce for the beef to cook. In 30 minutes, the meat will fall off the bone and you will have a rich sauce. Serve all over egg noodles or mashed potatoes, topped with vibrant gremolata (a mixture of parsley, lemon zest and garlic) to cut the fatty meat.
What to buy: Ask your butcher for cross-sectional pieces of beef stem from the fleshy, widest end of the stem.
Game Plan: Although the CHOW test cooker prefers a stove pressure cooker, this recipe can also be made in an electric model. Use the brown setting for steps 3 to 5, then proceed with high-pressure cooking.
This recipe was presented as part of our story about pressure cookers. We also recommend our recipe for short pressure cooker ribs.
- Yield
- Difficulty: Easy
- hour 45 minutes
: 4 servings
Total: 1
Ingredients (19
)
For osso buco:
1/2
- cup all-purpose flour
- pieces of beef stem (1-1/2 inch thick) (about 3 pounds)1 1/2 teaspoons
- /4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, and more for seasoning
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 4
- carrot, peeled and diced
- stalk celery, small dice
- medium yellow onion, small cubes
- tablespoon tomato paste
- dry white wine
- can (14-1/2 ounce) crushed tomatoes 1 cup low-sodium
- beef broth
- bay
4
kosher salt, plus seasoning 3
medium garlic cloves, finely chopped 1 medium
1 medium
1
1
1/2 cup
1
2
leaves For gremolata: 1/4 cup finely chopped Italian parsley leaves 2 medium garlic
- finely chopped
- Thin zest of 1 medium lemon
- Kosher
- Freshly ground black
cloves,
salt
pepper
Instructions
For osso buco:
- Place the flour in a large baking dish, season generously with salt and pepper, and whisk to combine.
- Dry the pieces of beef with paper towels and season on all sides with salt and pepper measured. Place the rods in the flour mixture and turn to cover all sides. Discard any remaining flour.
- Heat the oil in a 6-quart stove pressure cooker over medium heat until it shines. Add 2 of the stems and cook, turning occasionally, until golden brown on all sides, including the edges, about 7 minutes. Remove to a large plate and repeat with the remaining 2 stems.
- stove to medium high, add garlic, carrot, celery, onion and tomato paste, season with salt and pepper, and stir with a wooden spoon to combine. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tomato paste no longer tastes raw, about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add the wine and cook, scraping the golden pieces from the bottom of the pressure cooker, until the liquid thickens and reduces by about three-quarters, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, broth and bay leaves and stir to combine.
- juices accumulated in the dish to the pressure cooker, turn to cover the stems in the liquid and place them in an even layer (okay if the stems overlap a little). Lock the lid in place and bring the high-pressure pot over high heat. Reduce the heat from the stove to medium and cook the rods for 30 minutes, adjusting the heat as needed to maintain a visible and constant flow of escaping steam. Remove the pressure cooker from the heat and let the pressure drop naturally for 15 minutes. In the meantime, make the gremolata.
Increase the heat of the
Return the stems and
For the gremolata:
- Place the parsley, garlic and lemon zest in a medium bowl and season generously with salt and pepper. Rub the mixture between your fingers to combine the ingredients, releasing the oils from the lemon zest to cover the parsley and garlic, about 1 minute; reserve.
To finish:
- Carefully quickly release any pressure left in the pressure cooker, then remove the lid (keep your face away from escaping steam).
- Transfer the stems to a large, shallow plate and pour the sauce over them. Sprinkle with all the gremolata and serve immediately.
