We went to Siena last weekend with the Swedes. On Saturday evening we dined in Taverna di San Giuseppe, a place with great reviews, a queue outside of the door and a sign saying- we are full, piss off, don’t bother. Expectations were very high, but we were not blown away. Daniel and I went for ossobuco, which left us both quite disappointed. I never cooked it before, but when eating it I thought- I can do it better. For sure. And yesterday in Esselunga I came across some veal ossobuco, grabbed them off the shelf immediately and cooked them today, having first consulted Luca Pappagallo and Max Mariola.

I seasoned them first with salt and pepper, then dusted them in flour, before browning them off on olive oil and butter. Some soffritto was ready and chopped, added to the meat, then a glass of white wine, after a few minutes some beef stock, lid on and it cooked on medium heat for nearly 2 hours, much longer than both chefs suggested. I wanted mine falling off that bone, in the Taverna I had wanted my veal softer.

When I was happy with the cooking, the potato puree was ready, I made a little finishing touch, as suggested on youtube, finely chopped rosemary, parsley and lemon rind, all sprinkled on the meat before serving.

Served with mash, broccoli and some decent red, the family said they liked it, I rather did too, but I’m thinking I’d give it a sauce, a ballsy, big sauce, maybe roasted tomato/pepper thing, maybe even some olives, not sure how authentic it would have become…

Not said the last word on ossobuco yet.

It tasted and looked much better than on the photo. :-/