A comforting ragu made using ossobuco, which translates to 'bone with a hole', referencing the marrow found in this cross-cut shank. This is my idea of the perfect Sunday sauce!
Make the pasta dough according to my master dough recipe.
Once rested, divide the dough into four pieces. Work with one at a time – flatten the piece with your hand or a rolling pin before passing it through the thickest setting on your pasta machine. Fold the edges in to create a neat rectangle that fits the width of your pasta machine, and run it through the thickest setting again until your dough is uniform in shape
Continue passing your dough through the machine, working through each thickness setting until you get to setting 6 – typically the 4th to last setting on most machines.
Take this sheet of dough and generously dust with fine semolina to prevent sticking. Let it sit out for about 5 minutes to dry slightly.
On one end of the pasta sheet, make a fold about 2cm in width. Do the same on the other side. Continue to fold both ends until they meet in the middle.
Use a knife and in one smooth motion, cut widths of 2-3cm to create the pappardelle ribbons.
Unfold the ribbons and dust in fine semolina.
Set aside in loose nests on a clean and dry tea towel until ready to cook.
Ossobuco
Preheat oven to 170c (150c fan)
Place the flour on a large plate and season with salt and pepper. Coat each piece of ossobuco in the flour and dust off any excess.
Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a large oven proof pan (if you don’t have an oven proof pan you can do this in a normal pan and transfer to an oven dish later).
Sear the ossobuco in batches until you have a nice colour on all sides. Transfer out of the pan and set aside.
Add the onion and celery to the pan the ossobuco was in and sauté gently for a few minutes before adding the garlic and anchovy. Continue cooking gently until the garlic is fragrant and the anchovy has broken down to a paste.
Add the tomato paste and let it cook for a couple of minutes until it darkens slightly in colour.
Deglaze with white wine, then in with the chicken stock. I tend to add 750ml to start and keep extra on hand if needed later on.
Make a bouquet garni with the rosemary, bay and cinnamon and add to the stock.
Nestle the ossobuco back into the pan, cover tightly with foil and place in the centre of the oven for 3.5-4 hours, until the meat is incredibly tender, checking occasionally to make sure it’s not drying out – if it is, add the remaining stock.
Note: If you don’t have an oven proof pan, at this stage you can place the ossobuco and liquid into an oven safe dish.
Remove the bouquet garni and discard.
Transfer the meat and bone marrow out of the pan. Shred the meat with a fork and keep covered and warm.
Take about 2/3 of the braising liquid and blend until smooth, then transfer back to the remaining 1/3 in the pan and return to the heat. Reduce by about a 1/3 or until you have a pouring cream consistency. Add the shredded meat and bone marrow back in and keep warm.
Gremolata
Roughly chop the parsley and garlic.
Squeeze in lemon juice and enough olive oil to cover the parsley.
Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
Finishing touches
Cook the pappardelle for 2-3 minutes until al dente.
Drop directly into the ossobuco with some of the pasta water and toss until beautifully coated.
Serve with dollops of gremolata, grated cheese and the bone marrow on the side, if you like.