Ready to go in the oven

Seeing veal shanks at the nice grocery store was the inspiration for this recipe. You don’t see veal very often, but there is a new crop of farmers raising veal humanely. The calves have space to move around allowing more blood flow to the muscles and therefore the meat is not the pale hue normally associated with veal. I find this “rose veal” more appealing both in flavor and ethos. Any animal’s shanks will work; the time may vary because of the age of the animal. Use your fork to pull the meat to test doneness as opposed to a timer. And when it is all said and done, use a small spoon to scoop the marrow out of the center of the bone—I usually shmear it on a spare piece of toast.

• 4 veal shanks, 6-8oz each
• ½ C flour (for dredging)
• 1 T tomato paste
• 1 C white wine
• 1 onion, sliced thinly
• 3 carrots, cut small
• 3 stalks celery, cut small
• 4 cloves garlic
• 3 C stock
• 4 sprigs thyme

1. Heat oven to 300F
2. Season shanks liberally with salt and pepper and then dredge in flour, knocking off the excess
3. Heat a glug of neutral oil in a large Dutch oven
4. Sear the shanks until golden brown on both sides
5. Remove from the pan
6. Add the tomato paste and white wine to deglaze and scrape up the browned bits
7. Reduce the until the wine is syrupy
8. Add the vegetables, garlic and thyme and toss to coat
9. Nestle the shanks into the veg mixture
10. Add the stock and bring to a simmer
11. Cover with a lid, transfer to the oven and cook until shanks are fall apart tender
12. Meanwhile roughly chop the parsley, add the lemon zest, juice and olive oil and a good pinch of salt
13. Serve atop something creamy that can catch the sauce: saffron risotto, mashed potatoes, polenta etc.
14. Slather the whole lot with the parsley sauce