Miguel’s Slow Cooked Tomato & Thyme Braised Osso Buco with Creamy Parmesan Polenta

Winter is here and that means one thing: warm, hearty, steamy meals! To kick-off winter in style, we asked our very own Miguel to show us how to prepare a comfort food classic with a slow cooker.

Miguel's Slow Cooked Tomato & Thyme Braised Osso Buco with Creamy Parmesan Polenta

Serves: 4-6 people

Prep Time: 20 mins

Cooking Time: 8 hours

INGREDIENTS

Osso Bucco

4 osso buco, at room temperature
1 cup almond meal
1 cup all-purpose flour
Good pinch of salt
1 tbsp sweet paprika
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
2 brown onions, roughly chopped
2 sticks of celery, roughly chopped
2 carrots, roughly chopped
3 tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 head garlic, cut in half crossways
½ bunch thyme
½ tsp nutmeg
2 bay leaves
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
¼ cup dry white wine
2 cups beef stock
1 jar tomato passataGremolata
Zest of ½ lemon
Zest of ½ orange
Zest of 1 lime
½ bunch parsley, chopped
½ bunch chopped chives

Gnocchi Con Ragu

100 g Parmigiano Reggiano
Extra virgin olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Combine the almond meal and flour in a bowl with salt and paprika, dust each shank with the flour mixture, massaging well into the meat.
2. Heat a large fry pan over a medium high heat, add ½ of the butter and oil, and brown the meat well on both sides until browned. Remove from pan and set aside. Add remaining butter and oil, onion, carrot and celery, cook until lightly caramelised. Add wine and cook, deglazing the pan. Transfer to slow cooker.
3. Set slow cooker to low, add remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Submerge shanks into slow cooker, close lid and leave to cook for 8 hours.
4. Meanwhile, to make the gremolata combine ingredients in a bowl.
5. To make polenta, add rind of parmesan, stock and milk to large saucepan and bring to a boil. Gradually add polenta in a steady stream stirring constantly with a wooden spoon.
6. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring frequently for about 6-8 minutes or until polenta is thick and creamy. The colour will change to a pale yellow and the grains will soften. Remove cheese rind.
7. Add butter, cheese and cream and stir until well combined and butter has melted. Season with salt.
8. Serve osso buco on polenta sprinkled with gremolata.

Slow cookers provide an easy way to whip-up your fave winter dishes. Just fill them up with your chosen meat, seasoning and veggies, then let them do their thing. They're great for a busy Saturday morning or even while you're at work. If you're wondering about how to use a slow cooker - it couldn't be easier, just turn the dial to the recommended temperature in the recipe and it'll do the rest. In fact, because they cook at low temperatures, they're perfectly safe to leave on, and they even use less energy than your oven. Plus, there's a wide range of slow cooker sizes and shapes to choose from, so they're customisable to any need or occasion.

If you're deciding between a slow cooker or a pressure cooker, they actually have quite different uses. A pressure cooker uses hot steam to rapidly cook food, while a slow cooker uses much lower temperatures. Both have their advantages in the kitchen - it all depends on what you're looking for.

Check out Miguel's mouth-wateringly slow cooked Osso Buco with Parmesan Polenta recipe abo

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