The Big Stinco

Translation is not always as straightforward as it seems, so we’ll have no jokes about this recipe for stinco agli odori.

In Italian, stinco refers not to something you smell but to a shank--usually lamb or veal, but sometimes goat as well. And odori? Translate that as aromatics. They’re the sauteed chopped vegetables that lend their perfumes to so many stews and soups--in this case, celery, carrots, garlic and parsley.

For Giuliano Bugialli, the noted Italian cookbook author, this is a special dish, emblematic, actually, of a whole family of Tuscan meat preparations.

“We do these a lot,” he says. “In old times, there was a version with rosemary, garlic and sage. We let it all marinate, or we puncture the meat and put in all of these ingredients chopped very fine and cook that.

“All of the juices from the cooking are tossed with some pasta; some pappardelle would be perfect. You see, that way you have a primi with the sauce, then the meat as a secondi with a completely different vegetable--maybe spinach, something with a completely different taste.

“Or you can cook in the sauce some beans, some chickpeas, some kind of legumes, and serve it that way. It would be good with fresh peas, too.”

However you serve it, Bugialli recommends accompanying the dish with an old-fashioned Chianti Classico, specifically a Rocca delle Macie “Riserva.”

“You need a full-bodied red wine, one that is robust and intense,” he says. “This is my taste, anyway. I don’t like serving a light wine if the main course is a meat, veal or beef. I think the wine loses and the food loses a lot. Very light red wines should be reserved for preparations that are very, very simple. Aromatic herbs are going to obscure the smell of the wine and the roundness of the wine.”

But the reasoning behind his choice goes beyond merely matching flavors.

“This is a very Tuscan dish,” he says. “And I do believe that no other grape than Sangiovese matches so effortlessly with Tuscan food. Chianti, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano . . . those are the wines for this type of food.

“There’s some kind of philosophy behind that, no doubt. With other wines, there can be some kind of misunderstanding between the wine and the food. But with Sangiovese, they’re brothers; they’ve grown up together and they always get along.”

VEAL SHANK IN VEGETABLE SAUCE Stinco di Vitello agli Odori

Ask your butcher to give you the shanks before they’ve been sliced for osso buco. The amount of sauce produced by this recipe is enough for either 1 or 2 shanks. It is not necessary to double the amount of sauce for 2 shanks. This dish can be served with cannellini or borlotti beans. The beans should be boiled and then stewed in half of the meat sauce.

3 stalks celery

3 large carrots

3 large cloves garlic

15 sprigs Italian parsley, leaves only

6 large basil leaves

1/4 cup olive oil

1 or 2 veal shanks, each about 2 pounds with bone

1/4 cup flour

Salt, black pepper

1 cup dry white wine

2 cups chicken or vegetable broth, preferably homemade

Tie veal shank or shanks, if butcher has not done so, to keep meat from falling from bone.

Coarsely chop celery, carrots, garlic, parsley and basil.

Heat oil in heavy casserole over medium heat. When hot, dredge shanks in flour, shaking off excess, and place in casserole. Cook until golden on all sides, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add wine and cook until evaporated, about 5 minutes. Add chopped vegetables and herbs, lightly seasoning with salt and pepper, then add broth. Cover and bake at 400 degrees 1 hour.

Remove from oven and turn meat and stir vegetables. Cover again and return to oven until meat is very tender, about 45 minutes.

Remove shank to serving dish and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm.

Puree all cooked vegetables with their juices through food mill, using disk with smallest holes, directly back into casserole. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Place shanks back in casserole and spoon sauce over meat. Cover and return to oven to heat through, about 15 minutes.

Remove casserole from oven and transfer meat to cutting board. Remove bone and cut meat into slices about 1/2-inch thick. Serve meat with some of sauce on one side.

4 to 8 servings (depending on number of shanks). Each of 8 servings:

217 calories; 337 mg sodium; 78 mg cholesterol; 10 grams fat; 6 grams carbohydrates; 21 grams protein; 0.44 gram fiber.