Chef Erica Karbelnik’s delicious, fancy osso buco-style veal shank recipe is based on a favourite, beef-stuffed artichoke dish. “If there’s any Shabbat dish that has stuck with me my whole life it is a traditional dish of artichoke hearts stuffed with beef and braised with peas and turmeric,” she writes. This recipe, with braised veal and Moroccan-influenced spices, is adapted from the original developed by Chef Karbelnik for home cooks. Serve with couscous or potatoes to soak up the broth.
Moroccan-Spiced Veal with Braised Artichokes and Peas
Ingredients
3 Veal Centre Cut Shanks (Osso Buco-style), cut 1½ inches (3 cm) thick (about 2 lb/1 kg)
Salt
2 tbsp (30 mL) canola or sunflower oil
1 onion, finely diced
1½ tsp (7 mL) EACH ground cumin, garlic powder and onion powder
½ tsp (2 mL) ground turmeric
4 cups (1 L) no-salt-added beef broth
½ tsp (2 mL) saffron threads
1 lemon, cut in half
5 fresh artichokes (see Tip)
1 cup (250 mL) fresh or frozen peas
Pea shoots
Instructions
- Pat veal dry with paper towel. Season on both sides with salt to your taste.
- Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large Dutch oven or enamelled cast-iron roaster. Brown veal for about 10 minutes, turning once, until browned on both sides. Transfer to a plate.
- Add onion to pot; cook, stirring, for about 3 minutes or until almost translucent. Add cumin, garlic powder, onion powder and ½ tsp (2 mL) salt; cook, stirring, for about 20 seconds to toast spices. Add beef broth and saffron; bring to a simmer, stirring and scraping up brown bits from pot. Return veal and accumulated juices to pot.
- Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for about 2 hours or until veal is fork-tender.
- Meanwhile, place lemon in a large bowl of water, squeezing juice slightly. Trim outer leaves from artichokes with sharp paring knife, dipping into lemon water as you trim, until tender hearts remain. Cut into quarters and scoop out fuzzy chokes; discard leaves and chokes. Place artichoke pieces in lemon water.
- Drain artichoke hearts and add to pot. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes, until artichokes are almost tender. Stir in peas; simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes or until tender and artichokes are soft. Season with salt to taste.
7. Arrange veal shanks in shallow soup plates; ladle in artichokes and peas with broth, as desired. Garnish with pea shoots.
Notes
Tips: Substitute 5 canned artichoke hearts for the fresh. Drain and rinse, then cut into quarters. Cook veal 15 minutes longer in step 7, then add artichokes with the peas in step 8. Proceed with the rest of the recipe as directed.
Extra broth can be cooled and refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months. Use as the base for a soup or pasta sauce.
