Lettuce-Wrapped Beef Tongue

Ingredients

Slow-simmered beef tongue, parsley pesto, and a bright Tuscan vegetable relish, all presented in crisp romaine lettuce wraps for an elegant offal secondo.

• 1200 g whole beef tongue
• Fresh bay leaves, a few
• 300 g carrots
• 300 g jumbo red onion
• 240 g celery
• 12 g garlic (about 4 cloves)
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 240 ml extra virgin olive oil (plus more as needed)
• 60 g Italian parsley (1 bunch)
• 2 g dried arbor pepper (or similar dried chili)
• 180 g romaine lettuce leaves (for wrapping)
• 60 ml red wine vinegar (for Tuscan relish)

Method

1. In a large pot, place the beef tongue with roughly chopped onion, celery, carrots, and a few bay leaves. Cover with cold water, bring to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer. Cover and cook for about 3 hours, or until the tongue is very tender.
2. Remove the tongue from the cooking liquid and let it cool just enough to handle. Peel off the tough outer skin while still warm, then cool completely and slice into fine julienne strips.
3. For the Tuscan relish, finely chop red onion, celery, carrots, parsley, and the dried arbor pepper. Season with sea salt and black pepper, then moisten with red wine vinegar. Marinate for about 20 minutes in the refrigerator. Just before serving, add extra virgin olive oil and mix gently.
4. For the parsley pesto, blanch the garlic cloves in the tongue cooking liquid or in boiling water until softened. Blend parsley leaves (without stems) and the blanched garlic with enough extra virgin olive oil to form a smooth, bright green pesto. Adjust salt as needed.
5. Blanch whole romaine lettuce leaves briefly in boiling salted water until just softened, then cool immediately in ice water. Drain well and pat dry on kitchen towels.
6. To assemble, lay a romaine leaf flat and spread a thin layer of parsley pesto along the center. Add a line of julienned beef tongue and roll the leaf to enclose the filling. Repeat with remaining leaves and tongue.
7. To serve, spoon a bed of Tuscan relish onto each plate and arrange the lettuce-wrapped beef tongue rolls over the top. Drizzle with a little extra olive oil and finish with a sprinkle of chopped parsley or a touch more chili if desired.