Grandma Menna’s Kitchen: spleen crostini

giugno 17, 2009

Do you remember the crostini neri? The ones made with chicken liver?
Well, today I’ll show you another version: these are made only with spleen.
Obviously you can make Tuscan crostini with chicken livers and spleen together, to soften the strong and intense taste of spleen.
These crostini are typical of my area, we made often them , especially since my aunt Teresa gave us an infallible and reviewed recipe. It is today’s recipe!

I know, I know you’re used to my Wednesday’s pastoral stories, grandma’s childhood, relatives and ancestors, traditional sayings and Tuscan countryside… but if I had to describe this recipe through some shots, I would run the risk to repeat Tarantino’s Kill Bill as regards colours and style!
Clean the spleen in my kitchen is the most similar thing to O-ren Ishii’s band bloodbath committed by the Bride, really!
Mum with a spoon in her hands, a huge white apron and latex gloves is Dario Argento’s worth!
But let’s hit the recipe.

Ingredients:

• beef spleen, 300 gr
• medium onion, 1
• carrot, 1
• celery, 1 stalk
• parsley, 1 tuft
• garlic, 1 clove
• vinegard capers, 1 large tablespoon
• red wine, 1 glass
• tomato sauce, qb
• anchovy paste, qb
• (salt)
• extra virgin olive oil

First and foremost, the spleen. Wear latex gloves if you don’t want to resemble a country vet up to a calf birth. Extract the pulp from the spleen by scraping it with a largo tablespoon so that the pulp meat comes out.
Mince  carrot, celery, parsley, garlic and onion.
Warm a large tablespoon of olive oil in a non stick pan and sauté all the minced vegetables.
When they are soft and well sauté, add spleen pulp and stir until it gets brown and it’s cooked through.
This is the moment to add a glass of red wine: let it reduce and add a bit of tomato sauce to redden the sauce. Now, remove from the heat and add the minced capers.
What about tastiness? Don’t dare adding salt! As for the other Tuscan crostini, we’ll reach the right tastiness adding anchovy paste.
So, add little by little some anchovy paste and whip the sauce, tasting each time to find the right tastiness. It is delicious spread on a slice of Tuscan bread: add some boiled egg slice, to give a cool color contrast and soften the strong flavour of beef spleen.

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You should be interested also in:

1. Grandma Menna’s Kitchen: i crostini neri
2. Grandma Menna’s Kitchen: Florentine tripe
3. Grandma Menna’s Kitchen: pork liver
4. Grandma Menna’s Kitchen: crumble omelette
5. Grandma Menna’s Kitchen: leaf cabbage crostoni

Posted in Appetizers, Family recipes, Tuscan Recipes