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How The Story Goes…
So there you are in the refrigerated meat aisle of your supermarket or at your butcher’s shop and you spot it; a packet of beef hearts. Or perhaps you’ve already picked a packet up. Now you’re wondering what you’re going to do with this wonderfully nutritionally dense cut. Or maybe you’re just looking around the internet since someone you know mentioned this seemingly strange cut of meat and you’d like to know more about it.
Regardless of the reason, or if you’re not already sold on this wonderfully beefy option and you’re curious about what it might possibly taste like and why you should give it a try, I’ve made a post all about the Taste and Texture of Beef Hearts that might be of some interest to you and might answer some questions you might have about this particular cut of meat. However, if you already know why this is a favorite of ours and why you should absolutely give it a try, let’s get right into today’s recipe.
To Make This Dish You’ll Need the Following:
- Beef Hearts: Cleaned and cut into steaks or strips. You can ask your butcher to do this for you, even at the grocery store and they will usually oblige.
- Salt: I’m using a pink Himalayan but you can use a sea salt if preferred.
- Pepper: Pre- or fresh ground black pepper works well.
- Chimichurri Sauce: I like to make my own for the best flavor potency and guarantee of the freshest ingredients.
While this recipe is very simple to make, be warned that it does take a few hours of hands off marinating time, even more so if you’ve freshly made your chimichurri sauce and it hasn’t had time to rest and amplify its own flavors.
That being said, the bright punchy pungent kick of the chimichurri sauce is perfect for this cut of meat. To get our recipe going we’re going to need some beef hearts that have been cleaned and cut into strips or even left in whole halves. While you can clean and prep these yourself from the whole heart, you can also ask the butcher at the meat counter to prep it for you to save time. We’re also going to need some salt and pepper and finally a batch of chimichurri sauce.
Honestly nothing beats fresh and homemade chimichurri sauce, and making your own is super easy. Parsley, oil, red chili, oregano, garlic, salt, black pepper and lemon juice, gets mixed together and left to marinate for at least a few hours so the flavors can bleed together and become more full bodied and potent.
Here’s How to Make These Grilled Beef Hearts:
Season your beef hearts with the salt and pepper and place them into a non-metallic bowl or dish.
Add half of your chimichurri sauce and toss your heart pieces to ensure that all are evenly coated. Let your hearts marinate for at least 3 hours.
Now, a quick note. You can skip this step but I really recommend against doing so as the chimichurri marinade really penetrates the meat and gives a wonderful flavor throughout. However, if you’re really pressed for time you can simply season the hearts with salt and pepper, cook them, rest them, slice them, and then top them with the chimichurri sauce.
Once your hearts are well marinated, remove them from the marinade and wipe off any excess bits of herbs. Pat your hearts dry using a paper towel.
Heat a cast iron skillet to med-high heat until just smoking and add a splash of oil to lightly coat the bottom of the pan. Add your hearts in and allow them to sear undisturbed for a couple of minutes.
Flip and sear the other side. Once your hearts are cooked until just under your doneness preference, remove them from the pan and allow them to rest for at least 10 minutes so that they can finish cooking due to “carryover heat”.
Once rested, slice your hearts against the grain and top with a spoonful of the remaining chimichurri sauce. You can enjoy these as an entrée or serve them up as appetizers! The hearts in the image above is cooked to a med-rare…
…whereas these are cooked to a medium. Whatever you preference I’m sure you’re going to enjoy this unique and underappreciated cut of meat as much as we do!
If it’s your first time trying beef hearts and/or trying this recipe leave a comment as I’d love to know what you thought of it! 😊
Grilled Beef Heart with a Chimichurri Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 lb Beef Heart (washed, cleaned, and cut into steaks or strips)
- 1 tsp Himalayan salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1¼ cup Homemade Chimichurri Sauce (1 recipe's worth)
- 1 tbsp extra light olive oil
Instructions
- Wash and pat the beef hearts dry and season with salt and pepper.
- Add half of your Chimichurri Sauce and toss to evenly coat all your pieces. Allow your beef hearts to marinade for 2-3 hours or overnight. (See note)
- Scrape off all the marinade and pat your steaks dry once more.
- Heat a pan or cast iron skillet on high until just smoking. Reduce the heat to med-high and add and evenly distribute your oil.
- Add your heart steaks in an even layer and allow each to cook for 2-3 minutes without disturbing them before flipping and cooking the other side for and additional 2-3 minutes. (See note) A lovely crust should be formed on each side.
- Once done, remove the beef heart steaks from the pan and set them into a dish or plate and cover them with foil. Allow them to rest for 10-15 minutes.
- Once your hearts have rested, slice them against the grain and spoon your remaining chimichurri sauce over them and serve.
- Store any leftovers in an airtight container for up to three days in the fridge.
Notes
- While you don't need to marinate your beef hearts in the chimichurri sauce though doing so imparts a lot of flavor into the meat so I highly recommend not skipping this step. However, if pressed for time you can simply season your steaks with salt and pepper and grill them, let them rest before slicing and then spoon the chimichurri sauce over them.
- Depending on the thickness of the steaks you may need to add more or less time to your cooking.
