Osso Bucco Ravioli

For the Osso Bucco

1. Heat the oil in a large casserole pan over a medium heat until hot.Add the osso bucco (in one or two batches - depending how big your pan is) and brown well on all sides - about 2 minutes per side. Remove from the pan.
2. Add the onion, celery, carrot and garlic and stir. This will create a little moisture in the pan to allow you to scrape any of the meat that stuck - this is all flavour!Cook the vegetables for 2-3 minutes until softened a little, then return the meat to the pan.
3. Pour in the wine and stock and stir. The meat should be just covered in liquid - add a little water if necessary.Add the bouquet garni and fennel seeds and season generously with around 2 teaspoons salt and 1-2 teaspoons black pepper. Stir well, then bring to a boil.Once boiling, reduce the heat to very low and cover the pan. The stew should be barely bubbling - a very gentle simmer. Cook for 4 hours, stirring occasionally.
4. After 4 hours, the meat will be super tender. Carefully remove from the pan and place in a bowl to cool for around 10 minutes.
5. Once cool, remove the meat from the bones - discard any fat and bones. Be sure to look for any marrow in the bone and add this to the meat. Shred and chop the meat into tiny pieces and add the parmesan cheese and a few ladlefuls of gravy until you have a thick dry paste like mixture.

Making the pasta

1. Add flour to a large bowl or just on the countertop and make a well in the centre.Drop into the well, the eggs and then begin to whisk them with a fork, picking up the flour, little by little as you whisk.Eventually, the mixture will become too thick to whisk, which is when you get involved with your hands to bring the mixture together to form a dough.
2. Knead the dough for a good 10-15 minutes to form a silky, smooth texture. Eggs differ in size, so if the dough feels dry, add a little water or egg white. If it feels too wet, add a little flour - the dough should be pliable, but not stick to the surface.
3. Roll into a ball, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes

Rolling and stuffing

1. Once chilled, remove the dough and cut in half. Using a pasta roller, on the thickest setting, pass the pasta through 3-4 times to get it started. Folding each time you roll. Gradually roll through the machine, reducing the settings each time to create a thinner sheet. Stop the second from thinnest setting.Dust the pasta sheet with flour and fold a few times. Cover with a tea towel while you repeat the process with the other half.
2. Lay one pasta sheet on the countertop, cut it in half if it's too long.On the top top half of the pasta sheet, make very gentle indentations with your pasta/cookie cutter in one line. Then make small balls of meat, about half the size of a ping-pong ball and space them out in the centre of each circle.Using a pastry brush or your fingers, brush the bottom half quickly with a little water.From the bottom, fold the pasta sheet upwards to cover the meat and gently press around the meat balls to seal them. Get as close to the meat as you can to avoid air pockets. This will ensure the ravioli don't explode in the pan. Now, using your cutter, cut out each ravioli. Place on a tray and cover with a tea towel. Repeat the process with the remaining pasta ball. Discard the leftover pasta.

Cooking

1. Heat a large frying pan and add 3-4 ladles of the osso bucco cooking sauce with 1/2 stick butter. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat to very low to keep warm.Heat a large pan of salted water and when boiling, carefully drop in the ravioli. Cook for 2-3 minutes then using a slotted spoon, remove the ravioli and drop into the sauce.Carefully toss the ravioli with a spoon or by agitating the pan for 30-40 seconds to coat with the sauce.Portion up the raviol, add another spoonful of sauce and sprinkle over more Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.