Photo: Sweet and Sour Calves' Tongue: Lingua Agrodolce Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 large calves' tongues, about 3 pounds
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pound pearl onions, peeled, or cipolline, unpeeled
- 2 medium carrots, cut into 1/4-inch disks
- 2 ribs celery, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 3 oranges, zested and juiced
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1 cup chicken stock (or reserved cooking liquid)
- 1 cup basic tomato sauce, recipe follows
- 1 bunch Italian parsley, finely chopped to yield 1/4 cup
Directions
Place the tongues in a pot just large enough to hold them both, and cover with water. Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer 1 1/2 hours. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
Peel the tongues and remove the fatty parts from the lower portion of muscle. Slice the tongues into 1/2-inch pieces and set aside.
In a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots and celery and cook, stirring regularly until lightly browned, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the orange juice, vinegar, chicken stock and tomato sauce and bring to a boil. Add the tongue pieces and cook, uncovered, at a very low boil, until the liquid has reduced by 2/3, about 30 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley and the grated orange zest
BASIC TOMATO SAUCE:
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 Spanish onion, chopped in 1/4 inch dice
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves, or 1 tablespoon dried
- 1/2 medium carrot, finely shredded
- 2 (28-ounce) cans peeled whole tomatoes, crushed by hand and juices reserved
- Salt, to taste
In a 3-quart saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until soft and light golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the thyme and carrot and cook 5 minutes more, until the carrot is quite soft. Add the tomatoes and juice and bring to a boil, stirring often. Lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes until as thick as hot cereal. Season with salt and serve. This sauce holds 1 week in the refrigerator or up to 6 months in the freezer. Yield: 4 cups
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By Amanda Huggenkis
Kirkland, WA
on December 01, 2011
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This took a long time to put together, but the end result was worth it. I used fully grown cow's tongues which take langer to cook so make sure you adjust your boil time according to what you have on hand or the stew meat will be chewy. As with most stews, the flavor is much better the second day, so I made this and let it sit overnight. At dinner the next day, it was a hit! We skipped the orange zest garnish and the taste was still fabulous. Not many recipes on this site for tongue...why not?
By garyfence
on March 03, 2011
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did not try yet but your site helped me to try, thank you very much will replay when try recipe, thank you again!!!!!! for help! not too much help for tongue, but i like different things, thank you again!!!!!!!!!
By info_6331142
Sierra Madre, CA
on November 06, 2006
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As most of the Batali recipes, this one was very very good. The tongue was tender, the sauce had layers of tastes. I used blood grapefruit instead of oranges which gave a nice, slightly bitter taste. But I added a little bit of sugar, for oranges are much more sweeter then the grapefruits.
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