Veal tongue in sauce, a dish with ancient flavors, has made a comeback, as it is not only very easy to cook, but also very economical, nutritious, rich in iron and fats.
Today we will cook the veal tongue in the classic way but give tips for those who want to cook it in a pressure cooker.
Sometimes, when visiting old butchers, we find the whole tongue, with the skin and glands to be removed, whereas lately in some butcheries you can find pre-cooked veal tongue without the skin.
With this recipe, I will start from scratch, with the whole tongue as our trusted butcher used to give it to us.
Therefore, also doing a pre-cooking to remove the superficial part.
These recipes are designed for you:
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Very economical
- Preparation time: 1 Hour
- Portions: 6
- Cooking methods: Boiling
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter, and Spring
- Energy 558.87 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 24.22 (g) of which sugars 7.38 (g)
- Proteins 32.97 (g)
- Fat 38.72 (g) of which saturated 1.27 (g)of which unsaturated 0.50 (g)
- Fibers 5.09 (g)
- Sodium 324.21 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 300 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
Let’s go shopping
- 3.1 lbs beef tongue (gross weight)
- 3 leaves bay leaves
- 3 cloves garlic
- to taste sage
- to taste water
- 3.5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 glass red wine
- 1 cup onion
- 1 cup carrot
- 1 stalk celery
- 4 cups tomato sauce
- 8.8 oz tomato paste
- to taste water
- to taste salt
- to taste pepper
Veal Tongue in Sauce
Tools
What we need to prepare
- 1 Cutting board
- 1 Knife
- 1 Pot
- 1 Pressure cooker
Steps
Let’s get acquainted
This is the tongue as sold by butchers, whole with the skin.
Laterally, you can see there are glands to be removed.
Then, take a pot with bay leaves, sage, water, and a pinch of salt, and bring it to a boil, then introduce the tongue. It should cook for about 40 minutes. If using a pressure cooker, 15 minutes from the start of the whistle would be enough
Now that the time has passed, remove the veal tongue from the pot, place it on a cutting board, and let it cool slightly.
With the help of a small knife, remove the white skin seen in the photo, and remove it entirely.
Here is how the tongue looks without any external parts.
Now, turn it to the inner side and make some slits, and inside them, you must insert pieces of garlic.
Now take a rather large pan, add the oil, bay leaves, sage leaves, and a big clove of garlic, and lightly fry
Place the veal tongue and brown it on all sides to seal all the juices and retain its succulence
Once the tongue has turned white, pour a nice glass of red wine, I preferred a Merlot, but you can use whatever you have at home. Let all the alcohol evaporate by turning the tongue several times in the pan
In the meantime, coarsely chop the onion, celery, and carrots, and decide whether to use the classic pot or the pressure cooker.
Fry the vegetables, and when they are browned, add the tongue with its juices from the pan.
Pour a jar of tomato sauce
and about 8.8 oz of tomato paste along with the water you have used to rinse the tomato containers, in any case, you need to add half a liter of water.
Cook slowly without adding salt.
If you are cooking with a regular pot, it takes about an hour, and you need to check if more water is needed during cooking.
While with the pressure cooker, it takes about thirty minutes.
At the end of the time, taste the sauce and adjust the salt and pepper according to your taste.
After the time has passed, remove the veal tongue from the pot, and place it on a cutting board, letting it cool slightly.
When you can touch it with your hands without burning yourself, it is the right time to slice it finely
Arrange the veal tongue slices all around a serving plate and place the tomato sauce in the center. Here you have, the veal tongue cooked in sauce
Veal tongue in sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. In the freezer for up to 3 months.
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
Veal Tongue in Sauce
Can I skip using tomato sauce?
Yes, by skipping that step, you could use broth instead of the tomato sauce, then let the veal tongue cool and serve it cold with the cooking vegetables and parsley oil, click here to see the recipe.
