Osso Bucco & Eggplant Slow Cooked Ragu

We're celebrating what would have been the La Fiera Festival Myrtleford, here's our Taste of Italy main menu show stopper - a beautiful potato gnocchi, topped with a slow cooked osso bucco & eggplant sauce but it can also be served with any pasta.

Perfect with our Limited Release Sparkling Pinot Grigio Rosé.

Osso Bucco & Eggplant Slow Cooked Ragu

Ingredients:
Chicken Stock:
1 brown onion, coarsely chopped
1 celery stalk, coarsely chopped
2 carrots, coarsely chopped
4 bay leaves
2 chicken carcass/frames
6-10 peppercorns 
1/2 tablespoon salt
2 litres cold water
 
Place all ingredients into a large stock pot, bring to the boil.
Reduce heat & continue to simmer until liquid hash reduced by half.
Skim surface to remove impurities.
Strain to use.
 
Ragu:
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1kg osso bucco (any secondary cut of beef can be used here)
1 large eggplant, finely diced
2 carrots, finely diced
1 large brown onion, finely diced
1 leek, finely diced
1 stalk celery, finely diced
1 cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
3 cloves garlic, crushed
450ml Gapsted red wine
750ml chicken stock
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon each dried rosemary, dried basil
3 tablespoons tomato paste
400g tomato puree/passata/sugo
Salt & pepper
Fresh basil & grated parmesan to serve
 
Method:
Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
Heat olive oil in a frypan.  Seal beef until charred. Alternatively char on a BBQ.
In a large roasting pan, add all finely diced vegetables. Eggplant, onions, carrots, leek, celery.  Add crushed garlic, dried herbs & spices - cinnamon, bay, rosemary & basil.
Stir through red wine, stock, tomato paste & sugo & honey. Add charred beef.
Cover with a lid or aluminium foil & bake in oven for 2 hours.
Uncover, stir & return to oven for a further 30 to 45 minutes or until liquid has thickened & reduced.
Remove from the oven & allow to cool enough so that you can handle the beef, removing bones, sinew and also removing cinnamon stick & bay leaves.
Stir sauce, breaking up beef into smaller pieces, stir through bone marrow also, if desired (it adds a silkiness to the dish)
Season with salt & pepper to your liking.
Serve over potato gnocchi (recipe below) or your favourite pasta.
Top with fresh basil leaves and grated parmesan cheese.

Sauce can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days at this stage.  Flavours improve & develop after a day in the fridge.

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