What you'll need

Serves 1

• 4 tablespoons cooking oil
• 1⁄2 onion, diced
• 1⁄2 carrot, diced
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 tablespoon thyme, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 cup red wine
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 2 small veal shank pieces (osso bucco cut)
• flour to dust
• 2 cups milk
• 1 parsnip, peeled and chopped

Gremolata

• 1 tablespoon parsley, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon oregano, finely chopped
• zest of 1⁄2 lemon
• zest of 1⁄2 orange
• zest of 1⁄2 lime

The easy bit

1. Preheat oven to 220°C.
2. In a heavy-based pot, heat 2 tablespoons of cooking oil and sweat off the onion, carrot, celery, half the garlic, the thyme and 1 bay leaf for 5 minutes.
3. Add wine and reduce by half, then add tomatoes and chicken stock. Cook on a low heat until dark red oils form on the top.
4. Lightly dust the shank pieces with flour, and seal in remaining oil until golden brown. Place in a small, deep baking tray and pour over the sauce. It must cover at least three-quarters of the meat – if not, add chicken stock to adjust. Cover with aluminium foil, and braise in oven for 11⁄2 hours or until the meat falls off the bone.
5. Combine all gremolata ingredients, place on a tray with absorbent paper and leave out to dry.
6. In another pot, combine milk, parsnip, remaining bay leaf and remaining garlic and simmer until parsnip is soft.
7. Remove and discard bay leaf. Lift the parsnip out of the liquid and place into food processor. Process until smooth, adding liquid as required to obtain a smooth consistency.
8. Serve osso bucco on parsnip and garnish with gremolata.