Slow-Roasted Wild Boar Shanks with Polenta, Gremolata & Boquerones Butter
Makes 4 Servings
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WINE PAIRING | |
|---|---|---|
| Nebbiolo or Sangiovese from Tuscany | ||
This is a rustic Italian-style dish featuring pulled/shredded wild boar shank meat slow roasted in the oven and served atop mascarpone polenta. Boquerones compound butter and a fresh gremolata add a salty/astringent zing to the whole dish.
Slow roasting shank meat yields a delicious result that is tougher/chewier than braised shanks. The meat tightens up enough that it’s hard to get off the bone easily with table utensils. Though we photographed (and tried to eat) the meat on the bone here, we recommend that you serve it already cut from the bone and shredded.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 Wild Boar Hindshanks
- 2 stalks of Celery, roughly chopped
- 2 Carrots, roughly chopped
- 1 – 1½ Onions (depending on size), roughly chopped
- 3 Garlic Cloves, smashed w/ skin on
- 1 tbsp Butter
- Peanut Oil
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Polenta:
- 3 cups Chicken Stock
- 1 cup Polenta
- ½ cup Mascarpone Cheese
- ½ cup Heavy Cream
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- Gremolata:
- 4 sprigs fresh Italian Parsley, minced
- Zest of one Lemon, minced
- 1 clove of Garlic, minced
- Boquerones Compound Butter:
- 2 Boquerones Fillets
- 5-6 tbsp Unsalted Butter
- 3 sprigs Fresh Thyme, minced
- Salt to taste
- Plus:
- 4 cups of brining solution
DIRECTIONS
1
Brine the shanks overnight.
2
Preheat your oven to 325.
3
Get peanut oil hot in a pan or cast-iron skillet on medium-medium high heat.
4
Sear the shanks on all sides.
5
Remove the shanks from the pan, and add the mirepoix (onion, carrot, celery) and butter. Sweat the vegetables for a few minutes, until softened.
6
Return the shanks to the pan, on top of the vegetables, and add the garlic. Move the pan to the oven to roast for about 2 hours (until tender).
7
Mash the boquerones and thyme into the butter. Add salt to taste.
8
Mix together the lemon zest, parsley, and garlic to make the gremolata.
9
Cook the polenta following this basic polenta recipe. Stir in the mascarpone and cream. Taste for seasoning.
10
Using two forks, shred the wild boar meat off the shank bone.
11
Serve the polenta in a shallow bowl, topped with the wild boar shank meat. Make a quenelle from the boquerones butter, and put it on top of the shank meat. Finish the plate with gremolata and extra virgin olive oil.
Comments 3
Yum! Sounds especially good with boquerones compound butter and perfect served with polenta!
Made this recipe. It was ehhhh. The meat was a little on the tough side, but I was worried about that from the get go but wanted to try this out. The polenta was entirely to rich. You could add way less cream and cheese. This recipe all together was entirely to rich.
Hi Albert,
You are right on both counts – it was very rich, and we’re going to update the recipe to make that clearer (while suggesting people use less cream & cheese if they’d prefer a lighter dish). It was also less tender than braised shanks – we recommend in the recipe that the meat be shredded before serving…but perhaps we need to be more clear.
Thank you for your feedback!
Matthew
MarxFoods