Stinco di Maiale

The Method for Stinco di Maiale

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1. Heat the oven to 160°C / 320°F. Season the shanks and brown them in the oil in a casserole for 12 minutes, turning. Lift out.

   Mark done Start 12 min timer

2. Soften the onion, carrot and garlic in the pot for 6 minutes. Add the wine and boil for 3 minutes.

   Mark done Start 6 min timer

3. Add the stock, rosemary and bay and return the shanks. Cover.

   Mark done

4. Braise for 2 hours 30 minutes, turning once.

   Mark done Start 2 hr timer

5. Lift out the shanks, boil the juices down for 5 minutes and spoon over.

   Mark done Start 5 min timer

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What Can Go Wrong

1. Brown the shanks well.
2. Keep the oven low so the liquid barely trembles.
3. Reduce the juices for a glossy sauce.

If You're Missing Something

• An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.
• A dry vermouth keeps for longer than an open bottle of white wine and is the closer swap than a random white left in the fridge; for an alcohol-free version, use the same amount of stock with a squeeze of lemon.

A Little Background

This is what to cook in the first cold week, when the oven staying on for three hours is a treat. Stinco di maiale is an Italian braise of pork shanks in wine, with rosemary and garlic, and it needs almost no work.

A shank is a tough cut with a great deal of collagen, which turns to soft, sticky jelly in a long, slow cook. Brown the shanks well first, on all sides, because the colour is the flavour of the sauce. Cook them covered at a low heat, and do not let the liquid boil, as a hard boil makes the meat stringy. The liquid should come about a third of the way up the shank.

Braise at 160°C / 320°F for 2 hours 30 minutes, turning the shanks once, until the meat comes away from the bone. Lift them out, boil the juices down to a glossy sauce and spoon it over. Serve with mash, polenta or roast potatoes and something green for contrast.

To Go With It

Mashed potato · Polenta · Roast carrots · Greens

Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Focaccia Genovese, Rosemary Focaccia, Tuscan Panzanella.

Keeping Stinco di Maiale

Keeps for 4 days in the fridge. Freeze for 2 months.

What's in a Serving

No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (some ingredient lines cannot be read). Why some recipes have none.

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