The "osso bucco" title is obviously a bit of branding to make this dish more palatable to the non-vegetarians who were going to eat it. I used meaty carrots, mushrooms and daikon in lieu of the usual veal shanks but braised them in an osso bucco-esque red wine sauce.
L. pronounced this dish "meh" but I thought that it was a good compromise between a healthy vegetarian dish and something packed with the flavor that I want, which - let's be honest - doesn't always happen with vegetarian food.
Served my usual 4 with one portion left for lunch and 1 cup of stock to use as a base for soup.
4 large carrots, peeled and cut into 3
1 daikon root, peeld and cut into pieces the same size as the carrots
1 large punnet of button bushrooms
1 small punnet chanterelles mushrooms
3 cups water or vegetable stock
1/2 cups hearty red wine (I used a merlot)
1 shallot, chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped + 2 whole cloves garlic, crushed
1 large bay leaf
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp olive oil
2 Tablespoons butter
1/3 cup chopped parsley
2 tsps cognac or sherry
Salt to taste
Place the olive oil, bay leaf, fennel seeds, chopped garlic and chopped shallot in a large stock pot over medium heat. Cook until the garlic and shallots are translucent and cooked through, stirring from time to time (a couple of minutes).
Place the carrots and daikon pieces in the stock pot, salt well, and pour in the wine and water. Cover, reduce the heat, and cook until the vegetables are cooked through. This can take anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes so check often. When the vegetables are cooked, remove them from the pot with a slotted spoon or tongs and set aside.
increase the heat and cook the stock, uncovered, until it thickens and reduces by about half. You can make the recipe up to this point the day before if you so desire. Just make sure that you bring the liquid back up to a boil before continuing with the recipe if you do.
Once the stock has reduced and thickened, put the root vegetables back in the pot along with the button mushrooms. Reduce the heat to low and cook for an additional 5-7 minutes until the mushrooms are cooked. Adjust seasoning if needed
While you are cooking the button mushrooms, melt the butter with the whole garlic cloves in a skillet. As soon as the butter starts to foam, add the chanterelles, the parsley and the alcohol to the pan and cook through, about 5 minutes.
If serving directly in the stock pot, pour the contents of the chanterelles pan, including the juices, over the top of the carrot dish and serve at once. If not, transfer to your serving plate and top with chanterelles and juices.
I served this with a side of mashed Japanese sweet potatoes but mashed potatoes or couscous would work well too. You could also make the dish heartier by adding a can of cannellini beans or chickpeas and I also think that lentils would be a good addition. Up to you.