Hearty winter warming osso buco soup

There's a particular kind of cold that settles over the Southern Highlands in winter — the kind that gets into your boots and doesn't leave until the fire's been going for hours. This is the soup for exactly that kind of day.

Rich, deeply savoured beef shank falls apart into a broth built slowly with red wine, tomato, hearty veges. Marrow melts into the pot as it simmers, giving the whole thing a silky, slow-cooked body you can only get from bone-in cuts done right. Ladle it into a bowl with something crusty for mopping up, and you've got a meal that tastes like it took all day — because it did, and it was worth every minute.

PS while hearty flavour comes from the extended time cooking, the hands on time is only 15 minutes.

• 1kg osso buco, bone in
• 1 onion, halved
• 2 carrots, 1 cut in thirds, 1 peeled and diced
• 2 cups robust red wine (cab sav)
• 2 garlic cloves, diced
• 1 red capsicum, diced
• 2 Brussel sprouts, finely sliced
• 200g sliced mushrooms
• 1 can borlotti beans, rinsed and drained
• Small jar of tomato paste
• ¼ tsp chilli flakes
• 2-3 thyme stalks (or dried)
• 3-4 leaves of cavolo Nero or kale, rib removed and sliced
• ¼ cup shredded Parmesan

1. Turn over to 180C
2. Place onion and osso buco in heavy stockpot (about 4 litres)
3. Drizzle with olive oil and roast for 1hr
4. Once browned, create the stock by adding 3 carrots thirds, add wine and water to just cover.
5. Bring to rolling simmer, cover and simmer for 1 1/2hrs
6. Remove and dice the onion.
7. Discard the carrot
8. Remove the osso buco. Discard any gristle bits then dice. Reserve the bone marrow and discard the bones
9. Strain the stock into a separate bowl
10. No need to clean the stockpot - the frond will add to the flavour.
11. Place the pot over medium heat and add olive to sauté the veges
12. Add garlic, capsicum, diced carrots, sprouts and ‘shrooms plus a dash of salt and pepper and sauté until soft (about 10 min). 
13. Stir through the tomato paste, then add the beans, chilli, thyme, diced meat, marrow and onions. 
14. Add your home made stock and bring to a simmer. Cover for 45min.
15. Stir through the cavolo nero and simmer for 15 minutes.
16. Serve in soup plates. Sprinkle Parmesan over