Best Seasonal Recipes, Spring

Paprikash of Slow-Cooked Lambs Hearts

March 2, 2014

I have the lovely Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall to thank for this. The original recipe is designed for pig heart, liver and tongue, and it has become my favourite way to cook any hearts and tongues that I get from my pigs (I like to save the liver for other things). However, it is nigh impossible to get hold of those delicious parts unless you keep your own pigs, which is a big shame really.

Lambs hearts, though, you should be able to get from a butcher or decent supermarket, so I hope I can persuade you to step outside any culinary comfort zones you may have developed and give this a try. It really is delicious – whether with pig or lamb, my kids declare this one of their favourite meals!

This is best done in a slow cooker, but you can also do it in the oven or on the stove top (on the lowest possible temperature).

Ingredients (for four)

2 lamb hearts

2 tbsp flour

1 large onion (chopped)

2 cloves garlic (chopped)

1 carton of sieved tomatoes

Big squidge of tomato puree

Slug of red wine

2 tbsp sweet paprika

2 bay leaves or some dried mixed herbs

Sour cream (optional)

Method

1. Prepare the hearts: slice each in half and use small scissors to cut away any white tubey bits (discard those). Rinse in cold water, pat dry and coat in the flour in a dish.

2. Fry the onion for five minutes, add the garlic for another five, stir in the paprika for a minute and put it all into the slow cooker or oven dish. If you’re doing this on the stove top, put the mixture to one side, out of your frying pan.

3. Fry the hearts for a couple of minutes on each side, till brown. Add to the onion mixture.

4. Pour the sieved tomatoes and slug of wine into the frying pan, add the tomato puree and bay leaves or herbs. Bring to the boil and pour it over the hearts and onion mixture in your slow cooker or oven dish (or put it all together in the dish you are using on the stove top).

5. Cook long and slow, for about 6 hours.

6. When the hearts are cooked and really tender, take them out, slice them into nice slices and stir them back into the paprikash. They are lovely served with rice or baked potatoes and green veg, and topped with sour cream.

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10 Comments

  • Reply Ruth Jarman March 3, 2014 at 10:24 am

    ahhh…not often i feel guilty for being a low-dairy vegetarian! Sustainability wise, I know this is the sort of thing we should eat. I just prefer houmous!

  • Reply Gill July 27, 2014 at 7:16 pm

    We had this tonight as our evening meal and it really is the best way we have ever cooked hearts. Really delicious. Probably put more than a ‘slug’ of wine in, but we do have rather large slugs in our garden. Thanks for the recipe, we will use it again.

    • Reply ruthvalerio July 27, 2014 at 7:44 pm

      that’s great to know, thank you – I’m really pleased you enjoyed it. And slug away!

  • Reply Mike Lacey January 31, 2015 at 7:04 pm

    I always seem to end up with excess liquid – much more runny than in your photo. Any tips to avoid, or should I just syphon it off and make heart soup?

    • Reply ruthvalerio January 31, 2015 at 7:33 pm

      do you coat the meat in a good lot of flour beforehand? I think that helps soak up the liquid while it’s cooking. It isn’t a problem I have, but yes, if it’s too runny, use the leftover sauce for something else tasty!

  • Reply Paprikash of Slow-Cooked Lambs Hearts | Ryl's Rostrum January 31, 2016 at 7:55 pm

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  • Reply Bspanther71 May 23, 2017 at 12:19 am

    I have done a paprikash with beer heart, but haven’t tried lamb. Next on my list

    • Reply Ruth June 3, 2017 at 2:49 pm

      Great – let us know how you get on!

  • Reply Michael John TURPIN September 12, 2018 at 8:26 pm

    I tried the recipe today with 5 hearts multiplying up the quantities and it turned out nicely but the recipe needs a few tweaks as follows:-
    a/ it does not say what sort of oil or how much to use for frying the onions / garlic or the hearts.
    I used rapeseed oil about 4 tbsp., 2 at each frying stage.
    b/ it does not say what size of carton of sieved tomato to use. I used a 440g tin of chopped tomatoes.
    c/ it does not say when to add the paprika.
    d/ for my taste it needed salt added, not mentioned. I added about 1 tbsp.

    I used about 250ml of Cabalie, a slightly sweet van du Pays d’Oc and to thicken the sauce I added some water mixed with the remaining flour from coating the hearts. It was served over brown rice with peas and chopped cabbage. Overall a nice dish but next time I would add more flavour using stock instead of water and more herbs and spices.

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