#comfortfood: Jamie Oliver's Ossobuco with Bean Ragout

As one of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution Day Ambassadors (I'm the Monterey #FRD2014 rep!) I will be sent a copy of his latest cookbook - to cook from and write about. I can't wait.

I do have to laugh though, because its title is Comfort Food. And, according to a good friend: I only make uncomfortable food. Oh, well. I can learn!

To celebrate launch day - today - I'm sharing one of the recipes. Here's Jamie Oliver's Ossobuco alla Milanese recipe from his new cookbook, Comfort Food.

And here's my adaptation. I typically don't eat veal, so I went to our local butcher for some lamb shanks sliced into an osso buco-style cut; but they had just sold their last shanks. Darn. But then I noticed the "never tethered...free to roam" on the veal package and decided to go for it. I added in shelling beans to make a ragout and served it over wild rice instead of risotto. Also, I used lots of different herbs in my gremolata instead of just parsley. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 4 ossobuco
• 1 whole nutmeg, for grating
• plain flour, for dusting
• 2 T butter
• splash of olive oil
• 2 onions, peeled and diced
• 3 small carrots, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
• 3/4 C beer
• 1 C fresh tomato purée
• 3 C beef stock
• 2 C shelled beans (I used some Tongue of Fire beans)

Gremolata

• 2 small cloves garlic
• 1/4 C fresh parsley, minced
• 1 T fresh basil, minced
• 1 t fresh oregano, minced
• zest and juice from 1 organic lemon
• pinch of fleur de sel

Procedure

Place the grated nutmeg and flour in a large mixing bowl. Dredge the meat in the flour mixture.

Melt butter in a splash of olive oil and brown the veal until nicely golden. Stir in the onions, carrots, and garlic.

Pour in the beer, tomato purée, and stock; add in the rosemary sprigs and shelling beans. Bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook for 2 hours, or until the meat is tender and falling apart. Check on it after an hour to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pan.

With about 10 minutes to go on the osso buco, start your gremolata. Peel and roughly chop the garlic with the herbs. Stir in the lemon juice, lemon zest, and salt.

To finish, remove the meat from the sauce and reserve on a plate. Bring the sauce to a boil and cook until thickened and reduced. To serve, spoon the bean ragout into a bowl. Lay the meat over the beans and spoon a dollop of gremolata on top.

All three of my guys cleaned their bowls. The little one even licked his bowl! I'd say that it was a hit. I can't wait to check out more recipes from the book.

Here's an affiliate link to the book. If you are uncomfortable using the link, feel free to go to amazon and search "Jamie Oliver's Comfort Food" on your own!