Sandwiches made from marinated venison heart confit. Makes enough for 6 generous sandwiches.
Prep time: PT30M
Cook time: PT60M
Total time: PT90M
5 stars (2 reviews)
Vastedda Palermitana, Venison Heart
- If you're handy with a knife, trim the thin outer layer of fat and tissue from the hearts, otherwise just remove some of the extra fat from the top, along with the large central vein.
- Slice the venison hearts as thin as possible. Grate the garlic or mash to a paste, then toss with the venison hearts, along with the salt, chili, bay and rosemary, then marinate overnight. The next day, preheat the oven to 250.
- Cover the venison hearts with the fat to cover, add the wine, then bake, covered, for 2 hours, then cool. From here, the cooked heart can be refrigerated for a month or more, as long as the fat completely covers the heart, and the seal of fat remains unbroken and air-tight.
- When you take the container out to remove heart to cook, you’ll need to re-melt all the fat and pour it back over the heart you don’t use to replace the air-tight seal. That being said, the heart tastes so good it’s unlikely it will last longer than a few days.
- Mix the cheeses and season to taste lightly with salt and pepper. Cut 1/4 inch off of one slice of the lemon, then shave it thin using a mandoline, or a very sharp knife. Remove any pieces of seed from the lemon.
- To assemble the sandwiches, heat the hearts up in their fat. Meanwhile, lightly toast the buns to ensure they taste fresh. You can also butter and griddle them if you prefer griddled buns, which I often do.
- Cut each bun in half, fill with a generous amount of the heart confit, letting some of the fat and juices seep into the buns.
- Spread the top of the bun with a tablespoon or two of the ricotta mixture, top with 2 lemon slices each, depending on size, and serve, with a napkin.