Zuppa Osso Buco

Yesterday while digging for something to make for dinner I happened upon a pound of ground veal. Never having used ground veal before I thumbed through my cookbook collection looking for a recipe. Aside from meatballs it was a fruitless search. So I turned to the Food Channel website and found this recipe from Rachel Ray. And while it looks long it only took about 30 minutes start to finish

It turned out to be the perfect recipe for after a day of house cleaning and playing with wood. It was easy to make, very tasty and hearty. I am grateful for a well stocked pantry as the only thing I did not have was the 2 ribs of celery.

Zuppa Osso Buco

Veal Dumplings:

1 lb ground veal
1 large egg beaten
1/3 cup Italian breadcrumbs
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
course salt and pepper

Stoup: (not a typo, exactly as the recipe prints out)

2 tblsp extra virgin olive oil
2 carrots peeled
2 ribs celery and their greens
1 medium yellow skinned onion, peeled and halved
course salt and pepper
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup white wine
1 can (14oz) cannellini beans, drained (white kidney beans)
1 can (15oz) diced tomatoes in puree
3 cups chicken stock
2 cups beef stock
1 cup egg pasta, broken egg fettuccine or medium egg noodles

Gremolata:

2 cloves garlic, cracked away from skins
1 tin (2 oz)flat anchovy fillets, drained
handful flat-leaf parsley
1 lemon zested

Directions:

Combine all ingredients for the veal dumplings. Mix well and set aside.

Heat a medium soup pot over medium to medium-high heat. Begin to chop veggies while the pot heats up; dice carrots into 1/4 inch pieces, chop celery and onion. Add olive oil to hot pot and carrots. Turn carrots to coat them in oil and add celery and onion as you get them chopped up. Work near the stove so you can chop, then drop into the pot. Season the vegetables with salt and pepper and a bay leaf. Stir vegetables and cook for 5 minutes to begin to soften. Do not let vegetables brown; reduce heat if necessary. Add wine and cook for 1 minute. Next, add the beans and tomatoes and stock to the pot. Put a lid on the pot and raise heat to high. When soup boils, about 3 minutes, add 1 inch balls of veal dumplings directly to pot. When you are done adding the veal, stir in the egg noodles. Simmer soup for 6 minutes to cook noodles and meat dumplings. Adjust seasonings, turn off heat, let soup stand a couple of minutes.

Make the Gremolata:

Pile the garlic, anchovies, parsley and lemon zest on a cutting board and finely chop the mixture, then transfer to a small dish.

Serve stoup in shallow bowls with a couple teaspoonfuls of gremolata on top. Mix the gremolata throughout the soup.

Pass with crusty bread.



I did not have any egg noddles os I used regular fettucchini. I don't think you really need the noodles as the soup was very hearty. This will be a regular when I can get ground veal during the winter.