Osso Buco Ravioli

By Lee Jackson ↣ Published on: October 11, 2019

Last Updated: March 24th, 20245 Comments on Osso Buco Ravioli

Osso Bucco, braised until meltingly tender is then put to magnificent use in these delicious ravioli parcels. Meaty, flavoursome bites, coated in the rich, fragrant sauce is something very special indeed!

Osso Buco Ravioli

Few things are more delicious than Osso Buco. The beloved Italian favourite of Veal, slowly cooked over many hours, resulting in mouthwateringly tender meat and a rich, warming gravy. If you’re lucky, you might also win the meat lottery and find a little bone marrow in the shank too!

But the magic doesn't need to stop with just serving osso buco the traditional way, over a tasty risotto, I like to make it the filling for a luxurious and hearty stuffed pasta. This ravioli uses all the wonderful flavour of the meat ragù INSIDE a silky pasta ravioli. It's heavenly!

Osso Buco - Veal Shank

What is Osso Buco?

Osso Buco is the shank of the veal or beef. It’s the top part of the cow’s legs (see diagram below). It’s sliced thickly and includes the bone in the centre. As it’s a part of the cow that gets a lot of exercise, it’s a tougher cut of meat, which is why it’s almost always cooked low and slow.

The resulting meat is full of flavour and works as a dish on its own, usually served with polenta or risotto (traditionally the saffron infused Risotto Milanese) and a light sprinkling of the herb, lemon and garlic combination known as gremolata.

For our recipe, we create the braised meat and then use that along with a little sauce to stuff into egg pasta ravioli.

Why it works?

Two for one! - This ravioli gives us all the delicious flavours of osso buco ragù AND a silky pasta in one. Each pocket of pasta has a tonne of flavour, and the braising gravy is the perfect sauce to toss the ravioli in.

Osso Buco, browning in a pan

The perfect ragù, without tomato?

There are two schools of thought as to the perfect osso buco sauce to cook in a tomato based sauce or not… Both are common in Italy so no one method is more traditional. As a rule of thumb, tomatoes feature heavily in the south and less-so in the north of Italy. My Paccheri with Neapolitan Ragù from the south and Paparedelle with Lamb Ragù from the North demonstrate this deliciously, so be sure to try THOSE two recipes.

Whichever you prefer is fine with me, but for me I love a tomato-less sauce for osso buco, so we'll be following that recipe for our recipe for the stuffed ravioli.

Step by Step

There are three stages to creating the ravioli. You can split these stages up if you prefer, or do them all in one go – I’ll often divide my prep over a couple of days but usually just do the whole thing in one day – honestly, it’s no sweat.

  1. Preparing and cooking the osso buco ragu
    You can make this ahead and refrigerate for 2-3 days or freeze for up to 3 months in batches.
  2. Making the fresh egg pasta – make your dough, rest then roll it into thin sheets to make your ravioli.
  3. Roll, stuff and cook the pasta
    Do this on the day you want to eat the pasta.
Osso Buco Ravioli

Pro Tips

  • You could also think about buying a ravioli cutter to make light work of making the shapes, but it’s not essential you can create the perfect ravioli using a circular cookie cutter or small glass or cup too.
  • Making this dish in stages is a good idea. I'll often prepare the ragu and the pasta separately and freeze independently. Then, when it's time to cook, I defrost and create the dish in half the time.

Serving & Storage Suggestions

This ravioli dish can be served as the perfect small pasta course or as a more substantial main course. The sauce from the braising is the perfect sauce to toss the ravioli through.

  • Leftovers - Once you've made your ravioli, I would suggest serving right away, any length of time in the sauce will see it become dryer and less appetising. Leftovers will lose some of their magic so I urge you to eat everything!
  • Freezing - You can of course stuff the ravioli and freeze them before cooking. To freeze most successfully, line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper and then freese the ravioli in one layer (not touching). Once completely solid, tip into a freezer bag and store for 3+ months. You can cook from frozen. Once the ravioli float to the top of the water, let them cook for 3-4 minutes to ensure the centre is fully defrosted. Check one before draining.
  • Uses for the ragù - Once you've used the meat for the ravioli, don't throw away the leftover sauce - it can be used for regular pasta. Try with papardelle or fettucini sprinkled with plenty of Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino.
Ravioli in a meat sauce in a small bowl.

Ready to get cooking?

Osso buco ravioli is one of my most favourite stuffed pasta dishes. It's a dish I prepare for special occasions and celebrations as it's quite labour intensive, but the results really do pay off and create a dish that always creates a little ripple of applause at the table. I'm sure that for whatever occasion you prepare the dish it will do the same. Hope you enjoy!

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Osso Buco Ravioli

Osso Bucco Ravioli

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4.75 from 4 votes
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Recipe by Lee
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time1 hour 30 minutes
Cook Time4 hours 10 minutes
Total Time5 hours 40 minutes
Servings (adjustable) 4
Calories (per serving) | 825

Ingredients

For the ragu

  • 2 1/2 lb (around 1kg) Osso Bucco (veal or beef)
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 large onion (diced)
  • 2 celery sticks (diced)
  • 2 carrots (diced)
  • 4 garlic cloves (peeled and chopped)
  • 1 bouquet garni
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 4 cup beef broth/stock
  • salt & pepper

For the fresh pasta

  • 8 oz (220g) 00 flour (or plain, all-purpose flour)
  • 5 eggs (2 whole eggs, 3 yolks)

For the pasta stuffing

  • 1/2 cup finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano (parmesan)

Instructions

For the Osso Bucco

  • Heat the oil in a large casserole pan over a medium heat until hot.
    Add the osso bucco (in one or two batches - depending how big your pan is) and brown well on all sides - about 2 minutes per side. Remove from the pan.
  • Add the onion, celery, carrot and garlic and stir. This will create a little moisture in the pan to allow you to scrape any of the meat that stuck - this is all flavour!
    Cook the vegetables for 2-3 minutes until softened a little, then return the meat to the pan.
  • Pour in the wine and stock and stir. The meat should be just covered in liquid - add a little water if necessary.
    Add the bouquet garni and fennel seeds and season generously with around 2 teaspoons salt and 1-2 teaspoons black pepper. Stir well, then bring to a boil.
    Once boiling, reduce the heat to very low and cover the pan. The stew should be barely bubbling - a very gentle simmer. Cook for 4 hours, stirring occasionally.
  • After 4 hours, the meat will be super tender. Carefully remove from the pan and place in a bowl to cool for around 10 minutes.
  • Once cool, remove the meat from the bones - discard any fat and bones. Be sure to look for any marrow in the bone and add this to the meat. Shred and chop the meat into tiny pieces and add the parmesan cheese and a few ladlefuls of gravy until you have a thick dry paste like mixture.

Making the pasta

  • Add flour to a large bowl or just on the countertop and make a well in the centre.
    Drop into the well, the eggs and then begin to whisk them with a fork, picking up the flour, little by little as you whisk.
    Eventually, the mixture will become too thick to whisk, which is when you get involved with your hands to bring the mixture together to form a dough.
  • Knead the dough for a good 10-15 minutes to form a silky, smooth texture. Eggs differ in size, so if the dough feels dry, add a little water or egg white. If it feels too wet, add a little flour - the dough should be pliable, but not stick to the surface.
  • Roll into a ball, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes

Rolling and stuffing

  • Once chilled, remove the dough and cut in half. Using a pasta roller, on the thickest setting, pass the pasta through 3-4 times to get it started. Folding each time you roll. Gradually roll through the machine, reducing the settings each time to create a thinner sheet. Stop the second from thinnest setting.
    Dust the pasta sheet with flour and fold a few times. Cover with a tea towel while you repeat the process with the other half.
  • Lay one pasta sheet on the countertop, cut it in half if it's too long.
    On the top top half of the pasta sheet, make very gentle indentations with your pasta/cookie cutter in one line. Then make small balls of meat, about half the size of a ping-pong ball and space them out in the centre of each circle.
    Using a pastry brush or your fingers, brush the bottom half quickly with a little water.From the bottom, fold the pasta sheet upwards to cover the meat and gently press around the meat balls to seal them. Get as close to the meat as you can to avoid air pockets. This will ensure the ravioli don't explode in the pan. Now, using your cutter, cut out each ravioli. Place on a tray and cover with a tea towel. Repeat the process with the remaining pasta ball. Discard the leftover pasta.

Cooking

  • Heat a large frying pan and add 3-4 ladles of the osso bucco cooking sauce with 1/2 stick butter. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat to very low to keep warm.
    Heat a large pan of salted water and when boiling, carefully drop in the ravioli. Cook for 2-3 minutes then using a slotted spoon, remove the ravioli and drop into the sauce.
    Carefully toss the ravioli with a spoon or by agitating the pan for 30-40 seconds to coat with the sauce.Portion up the raviol, add another spoonful of sauce and sprinkle over more Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.

Nutrition

Calories: 825kcal (41%) | Carbohydrates: 55g (18%) | Protein: 76g (152%) | Fat: 27g (42%) | Saturated Fat: 8g (50%) | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 426mg (142%) | Sodium: 1455mg (63%) | Potassium: 1474mg (42%) | Fiber: 5g (21%) | Sugar: 4g (4%) | Vitamin A: 5864IU (117%) | Vitamin C: 7mg (8%) | Calcium: 369mg (37%) | Iron: 10mg (56%)
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