Veal tongue in tomato sauce, a dish with ancient flavors, has come back in vogue because it is not only very easy to cook but also very economical, nutritious, and rich in iron and fats.
Today, we will cook the veal tongue in the classic way but provide some tips for those who want to cook it in a pressure cooker.
Sometimes, when visiting old butchers, we find the whole tongue, so with skin and glands to remove, however, lately, in some butcher shops, you can find pre-cooked veal tongue without skin.
With this recipe, I will start from the beginning, meaning the whole tongue as our trusted butcher used to give it to us.
Thus, also, make a pre-cooking to remove the outer part.
I have thought of these recipes 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 Shop
- 3 lbs beef tongue (gross weight)
- 3 leaves bay leaves
- 3 cloves garlic
- to taste sage
- to taste water
- 0.2 cups extra virgin olive oil
- 1 glass red wine
- 3.5 oz onion
- 3.5 oz carrot
- 1 stalk celery
- 1 l tomato puree
- 9 oz tomato paste
- to taste water
- to taste salt
- to taste black pepper
Veal Tongue in Tomato Sauce
Tools
What We Need to Prepare
- 1 Cutting Board
- 1 Knife
- 1 Pot
- 1 Pressure Cooker
Steps
Let’s Get Started
This is the tongue as sold by butchers, whole with skin.
Laterally, you can see glands that need to be removed.
Then, we take a pot with bay leaves, sage, water, and a pinch of salt, bring it to a boil, and then introduce the tongue. It needs to cook for about 40 minutes. However, if using a pressure cooker, 15 minutes from the start of the whistle are sufficient.
Now that the time has passed, take the veal tongue out of the pot, place it on a cutting board, and let it cool down a bit.
With the help of a small knife, remove the skin, the white part you see in the photo, and take it all off.
Here is how the tongue looks without any outer part.
Now turn it inside out and make slits into which you need to insert pieces of garlic.
Now take a rather wide pan, add the oil, bay leaves, sage, and a large clove of garlic, and lightly sauté
Place the veal tongue and sear it on all sides to seal the meat and retain its juiciness
When the tongue is browned, pour in a nice glass of red wine; I preferred Merlot, but you can use what you have at home. Let all the alcohol evaporate, turning the tongue several times in the pan
Meanwhile, coarsely chop the onion, celery, and carrots, and choose whether to use a classic pot or a pressure cooker.
Sauté the vegetables, and when they are browned, add the tongue you have in the pan along with the juices.
Pour a jar of tomato puree
and about 9 oz of tomato paste along with the water you 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.
When using the pressure cooker, it takes about thirty minutes.
At the end of the time, taste the sauce and adjust salt and pepper according to your preferences.
Once the time has passed, take the veal tongue out of the pot, and place it on a cutting board, letting it cool down.
When you can touch it with your hands without burning yourself, it’s the right time to slice it finely
Arrange the veal tongue slices all around a serving plate and put the tomato sauce in the center. Here you go, the veal tongue cooked in tomato sauce
The veal tongue in tomato sauce can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. In the freezer for up to 3 months.
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
Veal Tongue in Tomato Sauce
Can I not use tomato puree?
Yes, by skipping that step, you could use broth instead of puree, let the veal tongue cool and serve it cold with the cooking vegetables and parsley oil, click here for the recipe.
