Recipes for ossobuco vary wildly. Although the “Ossobuco alla Milanese” from Lombardy may be one of the most famous and well known Italian secondo piatto.
My favorite recipe is: Ossobuco di Chianina al Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva!
Ossobuco di Chianina IGP
You can pair ossobuco with other dishes. I am talking about delicious saffron risotto such as: Risotto alla Milanese.
As a side dish you may choose to eat ossobuco with polenta or with mashed potatoes.
The Italian ossobuco is a beef shank from the cow’s leg. It is a cut of meat butchered from a cow’s or bull leg.
Much is written on which part is best. It’s been said that veal shanks from the hind legs are the best! Meat from those parts is more voluminous and fleshy.
Ossobuco literally translates to “bone with a hole” with meat. You can prepare ossobuco from veal but also with other kinds of meat such as pork.
However, the finest meat for cooking, in Tuscany, is Chianina breed. It is high valued meat with a more intense taste.
For this recipe I bought the ossobuco di Chianina at the Fierli farm in Foiano della Chiana. Fierli is an organic farm. The animals have a long life and they are treated well.
Recipe
The Ossobuco di Chianina al Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva is a true Tuscan recipe. Many people don’t prepare it at home. Some cuts of veal from the store may be chewy.
Tip for buy-in, first look for shanks that are > 2 inches. If they’re too thin, they’ll braise too fast.
My style Ossobuco di Chianina al Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva needs the following ingredients:
Ingrediënten
Recipe for 1 person
1 ossobuco di Chianina
flour
red wine “Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva DOCG” – Il Convento
2 cloves
1 clove of garlic
1 onion (soffritto)
1 celery (soffritto)
1 carrot (soffritto)
1 bay lief
pepper
salt
olive oil
When braising the ossobuco you may as well use meat broth or any other liquid (water). I prefer to use only wine. I do not mix the wine with other liquids. That would be a no-go, especially when it’s a high quality wine.
Also mixing tomatoes or tomato paste with red wine is not what I recommend. But that’s my personal opinion.
What else do you need
Stew pot.
Braadpan
How to cook
Chop the onions, carrots and celery.
Peel the garlic.
Heat the pot until the olive oil is well heated. Instead of olive oil you may also use butter.
First stir-fry the garlic. When the garlic begins to colour reduce heat. Add the soffritto and cook the vegetables until they begin to soften and caramelize.
Meanwhile cover the Ossobuco with the flour.
Ossobuco di Chianina IGP
When the soffritto has a golden wheat color, remove it or move it to a side. It depends on the size of the stew pot. Sear the ossobuco on both sides until nicely browned. Sprinkle the ossobuco with salt and pepper.
Pour the red wine over the ossobuco and bring it to boil to evaporate the alcohol. Reduce the heat and add the bay leave and cloves.
Cover the pot and check occasionally. When the wine is absorbed just add a little extra. The meat should be left at a low temperature for about 2-3 hours.
When the meat is tender it will fall off the bone. The marrow in the hole of the bone is the best part of the ossobuco. It is a real delicacy and super yummy!
Serve the ossobuco on a plate and the warm wine sauce on top of it.
Ossobuco di Chianina al Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva DOCG
What to serve with ossobuco
Due to its massive taste ossobuco goes well with a creamy risotto, mashed potatoes or polenta.
Wine
If you’re cooking beef or stew Vino Nobile di Montepulciano (sangiovese) is your friend. It affects the taste of the dish. The ripe flavors in this wine give complexity to the sauce and the meat. Chianina is a traditional and genuine meat with an intense and pure taste.
Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is a full bodied wine. It is best when paired with the right food. In particular Chianina beef.
Nothing beats the magic of a brilliant wine and food pairing.
Buon appetito!
Video
Watch this video recipe to see how to cook Ossobuco di Chianina al Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva.
Brasato means braised beef. The best part about the recipe “Brasato al Vino Nobile di Montepulciano” is that it is an easy and slow cooker recipe.
This meat dish is delicious on a cold winter evening. Springtime is not really the season for a beef stew. But when it’s cold and rainy outside it is the perfect food to warm you up a bit!
There are many recipes of braised beef, but when preparing an outstanding brasato it is important to have high quality meat and good wine.
Vino Nobile di Montepulciano DOCG
What kind of wine would you recommend to use in beef stew?
I prefer a full bodied, robust red wine such as the Vino Nobile di Montepulciano DOCG.
This wine gives a very special aroma to the meat.
Chianina beef
For this delicious recipe I use the perfect Chianina beef. This meat is expensive, but it is a very healthy meat and low in cholesterol.
Chianina is probably the oldest breed of cattle in Italy. Did you know that? This animal is also called the giant white cow “gigante bianco”.
Chianina farm Fierli
The homeland of the white Chianina cow is the Valdichiana area. The Fierli family is a four generations farm in Foiano della Chiana. A small town located between Cortona and Montepulciano. Today the family keeps 200 Chianina cows on 100 hectares of agriculture land.
Cecilia is member of the family Fierli. She came up with the rich, warm stew recipe “il brasato al Vino Nobile di Montepulciano”. Guanciale di Chianina cheek in Vino Nobile wine.
The cheek is a hard working muscle that needs to be cooked very slow. It takes hours before the meat is tender, but it is worth waiting for!
Besides guanciale di Chianina and Vino Nobile wine other necessary ingredients for this dish are olive oil, soffritto, salt and pepper.
A soffritto is the Italian cooking base for sauces, soups, stews and many more. It is an aromatic mix of onion, carrots and celery.
Besides the basic ingredients I add bay leaves, juniper berries, cloves and fresh rosemary. Really recommended!
Important information
It’s important to bring the meat out of the fridge a few hours before cooking. The meat must come up to room temperature.
In this recipe the marination step is not necessary.
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 3 hours at least
Serves: 2 people
Ingredients recipe
450 gram of bovine cheek (Chianina)
> 1/2 liter of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano wine
2 tablespoons extra-vergin olive oil
1 onion finely chopped
1 stick celery finely chopped
1 carrot finely chopped
1 bay leaf
3 juniper berries
3 cloves
salt, pepper, fresh rosemary
What else do you need
Stew pot
How to cook
Don’t remove the fat before cooking, that gives the meat a unique flavor and texture.
Clean, wash and chop the onions, carrots and celery.
Heat the stew pot over medium-high heat. Brown the soffritto in hot olive oil. Stirring frequently. The soffritto should be cooked until dorata (golden brown).
Add the meat to the pan and season it with salt and pepper.
Pour in the wine and bring it to boil. Reduce the heat, add the bay leaves, rosemary, cloves and juniper berries.
Cover the pot and turn the meat occasionally.
Leave the meat at a low and slow temperature.
The wine will evaporate. Let the wine reduce a bit and add more wine or other liquids when necessary.
After a few hours, when the meat is tender, remove it to a carving board. Slice the meat. Before serving make sure you remove the woody herbs stems and any bay leaves.
Arrange the meat on a serving plate and pour the wine sauce on top.
What to serve with beef stew
Serve warm with mashed potatoes, polenta or roasted potatoes with rosemary.. my favorite contorno!
A delicious antipasto
Antipasto misto di Cinta Senese: coppa, capocollo and speck.
Cinta Senese is an ancient Tuscan black pig with a white belt. They live free and they have a long and good life. The cinta senese meat has a DOP classification. It is top quality meat.
Wine
The main course pairs with the high tannic red wine Vino Nobile di Montepulciano DOCG.
Red wine and fatty or high-protein foods is a perfect wine and food pairing.
Vino Nobile di Montepulciano DOCG wine is an outstanding wine in the Tuscany region. Buon appetito!
Watch this video recipe to see how to cook il Brasato al Vino Nobile di Montepulciano!
Pici is a local pasta specialty from the province of Siena. It is a thick hand rolled pasta made from flour and water. Pici Toscani are similar to fat spaghetti.
The local people from Montepulciano “i poliziani” eat pici quite often. Since I moved here, I only eat pici. This pasta is amazing. So delicious!
Normally I buy fresh pici in the supermarket. It is a 300 gram packet, just enough for two meals. They are fresh and can be stored in the refrigerator for a couple of days.
Obviously dried pici are available as well in grocery stores, but I prefer the fresh homemade variety!
Le vongole veraci
I don’t live near the beach, but I eat fish regularly. Fish is one of my favorite dishes.
There are different types of clams. They live in the Mediterranean and Adriatic sea. On the Italian coast you find a wide range of good restaurants where they serve the best fish and fresh seafood.
In Italy we eat plenty of fish. I personally always prefer the clams “vongole veraci” for my pasta. This shellfish is bigger and they give an essential “sea” taste to the primo piatto.
A primo piatto can be a risotto or a pasta dish.
Recipe
Pici alle vongole is my personal recipe. I enjoy to experiment with different flavors and herbs. For the best pasta recipes I often ask locals, or I check out various recipe websites. Mostly I use the website of Giallo Zafferano.
I always put emotion and love in a dish, cooking is one of my greatest hobby. Besides wine tasting and running of course.
There are rules about Italian food that Italian follow and I respect that. Also the wine is important because the meal I prepare must pair with the wine I choose. It’s important to have a balance between the food and the wine.
I pici alle vongole
Primo piatto
Tuscan cuisine
Recipe for 1 persoon
Ingredients
1 clove garlic
Remove the skin, place the flat side of the knife over it and press down.
1 fresh red chilly
Chop the chilly into small pieces. How many chilly pieces you want to use for your pasta depends on how spicy you prefer to eat.
150 gram pasta i pici
100 ml white wine
Pinot Grigio delle Venezie DOC
300 gram vongole veraci Normally 250 gram is enough, but if you love vongole, the more the better.
half a bunch of fresh flat leaf parsley
chop the parsley
extra vergine olive oil
two table spoons of olio Italiano
salt
Preparation
Bring the water to boil in a pot.
Scrub the clams clean. They are unlikely to have sand in them. But to be sure that they are all clean and healthy I recommend to clean them.
Put two table spoons of olive oil into the hot saucepan. Add the garlic and some slices of chilly. Swirl a few seconds and make sure that the garlic doesn’t get too brown.
Pour in the white wine and bring it to boil. Then add the clams and increase heat to high. Cover and cook the clams until they are open. This will take at least 6 minutes.
After the water for the pasta has started to boil I add some salt. Cook the pici al dente. The recommended cooking time on the pasta package is 10-12 minutes. I always prefer having the pasta al dente.
Meanwhile keep on stirring with a spatula. Add the pici to the pan with clams, cook over high heat, tossing constantly, until pasta is al dente and has soaked up some of the sauce.
Remove the garlic, add the parsley and some pasta water if the sauce seems dry.
Serve your pici alle vongole directly while its hot.
Buon appetito!
PS: to pour the wine in the pan before the vongole is a recommendation from a fish market vendor in Montepulciano.
Can I store the pici alle vongole in the refrigerator?
You can store the pici alle vongole for maximum one day in the refrigerator, but it’s not recommended. Le vongole should be eaten fresh and immediately with the pasta.
Wine and food pairing
Prosecco Superiore DOCG Brut Millesimato
Pinot Grigio delle Venezie DOC
Both wines are wonderful wines from the winery Toffoli in the Conegliano Valdobbiadene area in the Veneto region, available on my wine webshop.
During the Easter holidays the whole of Italy was classified “red” from 3 – 5 April. In a red zone it is prohibited to leave your hometown except for work and health reasons.
Over the Easter period we were allowed to visit friends and families in their homes with a maximum of two visitors at a time.
Tuscany will remain under the heaviest restrictions until April 20, as I read in a newspaper. The infections are not declining.
Pizza
Last Saturday I went for a bike ride and pizza dinner with my friends. It’s been weeks since we met. We’re not seeing each other often these days because we do not live in the same municipality. I live in Montepulciano. My friends have a house in Montallese and in Chiusi. Two towns in Tuscany.
Pizza is a social food. A food for family and friends. I never make a frozen pizza at home. For me a pizza is to be eaten at a pizzeria. It must be eaten immediately after it comes out of pizza oven and must be made by an expert!
Our friend in Montallese has recently installed a wood fired pizza oven in his garage. He prepared for us a variety of pizzas. Gianfranco is an Italian pizza chef!
I had a great dinner and I really enjoyed the pizzas. It has been a long time since I have had a so good pizza. Too long…
Pizza with spinach
Pizza with truffle
Pizza with anchovies
Pizza with wurstel
The nationwide curfew from 10 PM till 5 AM is still active. In Italy we usually eat late, around 8 – 9 PM. With the current rules we eat a little earlier.
Pizza dinner
Online wine tasting
I have celebrated Easter at my home in Montepulciano.
I’ve had a fabulous evening with American people. Together we’ve tasted -virtually- some nice Tuscan wines from the winery Gattavecchi.
Pasquetta was spent on running, foods and friends. We were allowed to travel.
I went to Chiusi for a 12 km run and a lunch.
Friends from Chiusi – Tuscany
A typical Tuscan Easter food is “ciaccia di Pasqua”. In Umbria they call it “torta di Pasqua”. It’s a pizza filled with cheese. La ciaccia di Pasqua is perfect for your Easter picnic.
la ciaccia di Pasqua and capocollo
Normally we eat the ciaccia with capocollo. Super delicious!
ciaccia di Pasqua
Last but not least there was a tiramisù to conclude our Pasquetta lunch.
For those who cannot travel to Tuscany I have decided to organize a new perfect stay-at-home activity: a virtual Brunello di Montalcino wine tasting!
The focus of this online tasting is on learning and having fun. I have hosted several virtual wine tastings but I can say that tasting Montalcino wines -virtually- with other tasters was a different and unforgettable experience.
“What a great experience! After receiving bottles of Pian delle Ginestre Brunello di Montalcino to cold Oslo, nine people were able to sit around a table and receive a virtual visit from Sylvia via the TV screen and Zoom. The visit included a live stream tour through beautiful Montepulciano commented by Sylvia on the go, followed by a joint wine tasting 2600 kilometers apart.
The Brunello wines are a relatively recent acquaintance to us, but we have observed that our state-owned Norwegian Vinmonopol (in Norway all trades of vines go through one state-owned company) has gradually got a good selection of Brunello wines in their temperated treasure rooms. We now understand why, but to taste a wine from such a small and dedicated winery like Tenuta Pian delle Ginestre made the experience very special.
It tasted as beautiful at it looks, forest fruits, leather and tobacco but not as intense as it blocks out a good meal, it is more like a very faithful companion. A revisit to Tuscany and a first visit in real life to Montepulciano is high on the Bucket list now” ~ Ove Sveen (Norway) 23 March, 2022
Virtual wine tasting Brunello di Montalcino DOCG
You do not need to be an expert to enjoy the wine Brunello di Montalcino DOCG. Just trust your taste and senses … and relax!
During the online tasting I will provide a presentation, show a video and introduce you to the winemaker.
Vasco Rosso Brunello di Montalcino DOCG
Pian delle Ginestre is a small winery run by the Natalini family. They love their land and their wines. The wines are special. They tell you the story of its territory.
In addition to the Brunello, the winemaker produces other wines like Toscano IGT and Rosso di Montalcino.
To join the tasting you need two bottles of wine: Rosso di Montalcino DOC and Brunello di Montalcino DOCG from the line of wines Vascorosso named after the famous Italian singer Vasco Rossi.
Vasco Rosso Brunello di Montalcino DOCG
After the wine tasting you’ll have wine leftovers. This is brilliant! Because following the virtual event, you can continue to practice tasting the wines for a few days.
Interested? I’d love to hear from you!
Brunello di Montalcino DOCG
Today Brunello di Montalcino is one of the most known and expensive wines. Brunello is not just a drink. It is an elegant and prestigious Tuscan wine with the ability to age well for years. It is one of those wines you should have tried at least once in your life!
Consortium Brunello di Montalcino
The wine is made from 100% Sangiovese Grosso. No other grapes are allowed in a Brunello wine. Brunello di Montalcino is a high tannin wine. This is one of the unique characteristics of this important wine. This wine gets better with age.
Before drinking the wine needs aeration, let it “breathe” at least 2 hours. A perfect match with this wine is steak (protein), seasoned cheeses and cured meats.
I always enjoy drinking a glass of Brunello, especially when I can share my love and passion for this wine with friends.
Montalcino
At present there are 250 wine producers in Montalcino. The total area is 24,000 ha of which 4,600 ha are used for viticulture. Each year around 11 million bottles of wine are produced.
Montalcino is a hilltop village surrounded by Crete Senesi and Val d’Orcia area. It is a town worth visiting. Not only for the wine but also for its unique beauty!
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