Ox heart stuffed with mushroom duxelle
- Main
- Medium
- 6
- 60 minutes
PT1H
Regula Ysewijn revisits an old English classic – roasted ox heart – which she updates with a delicious stuffing of kale, bacon and mushrooms. Heart is one of the cheapest cuts of meat available today and makes a fantastic alternative roast dinner.
Ingredients
Stuffed ox heart
- 1 ox heart , halved
- 180g of bacon
- 250g of chestnut mushrooms , cut into ½ cm cubes
- 1 handful of kale , or cavolo nero
- 1 knob of butter , plus extra for frying the bacon
Method
1
Begin by prepping the heart. Your butcher might have prepped it already but usually heart comes with muscle fat, arteries and blood vessels. This isn’t something to be scared of, it is actually quite beautiful to see what a heart looks like
2
Remove the hard fat – don’t worry if you cut away a little of the meat, it is safer to do this than it is to cut into the tough fat
3
Trim away the 2 flaps on the top of the heart, these used to be known as ‘deaf ears’ and you’ll see why as they look a little like pigs ears
4
On the outside of the heart you will notice some large arteries and blood vessels, just cut these out
5
On the inside of the heart, remove the stringy parts shown in the photo. If the heart still has a piece that looks a bit like a windpipe, also remove this.
6
You should end up with two halves of heart without any hard bits left. There is no need to completely remove all the fat, a little will be fine and will give it flavour
7
To make the duxelle, blanch the kale in boiling salted water, then refresh in cold water
8
Fry the bacon until crisp, remove from the pan and set aside. Fry the mushrooms in the bacon fat, adding butter if needed – do not let them get too much colour
9
Chop the fried bacon into smaller pieces so they are not too much larger then the mushrooms. Chop up the blanched kale into a similar size and mix everything together. Season with pepper, I don't add salt as the bacon is salty but judge for yourself. Leave the mixture to cool
10
Place 1 half of the heart on a plate. Place butcher’s twine under the heart so you don’t need to move the heart once it is stuffed. Spoon the filling inside the heart, then place the other half of the heart on top and tie it together with twine
11
Preheat the oven to 150°C/gas mark 2
12
Get a large cast-iron skillet scorching hot, put a generous knob of butter into the pan and a splash of vegetable oil. Carefully place the heart into the pan and fry for about 3 minutes each side, being very gentle when turning it over
13
Place onto a wire rack set over over a baking tray and transfer to the bottom shelf of the oven. Roast the heart for 40 minutes for medium-rare (as I have) or longer if you like it more well done. Don’t let it roast for too long as the meat does need to be pink
14
Serve with all the trimmings you would serve for a Sunday roast
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Ox heart stuffed with mushroom duxelle
