Herb Stuffed Lambs Hearts…

So tonight was a completely invented little number after I saw some lambs hearts at the butchers for a steal. We haven’t eaten heart meat in a while and it is something that I believe should be eaten frequently if you are an athlete (or suffer energy or health problems) given the high amount of CoQ10 and quality of the meat.  The meal worked a treat, and so I am sharing it on. We demolished the meal if the truth be told, and I completely forget to capture the prep in progress; we are a hungry athlete house!

Meal highlights:

Lambs hearts are very nutritious. I have written in-depth about organ meats in another blog which I encourage you to read. In brief the benefits of this meal are:

• Lambs heart is a lean source of protein that is rich in thiamine, folate, selenium, phosphorus, zinc, CoQ10 and several B vitamins. Notably the CoQ10 is the winner in this meat over other sources of meat which is why if you are an athlete, or person suffering fatigue or chronic health conditions I highly recommend that you include heart in your diet several times a month.
• it is amazing to me when you hold a heart in your hand that this “machine” beats for the entirety of the life span; never a moments rest. A reminder to nourish your body and choose your lifestyle well and to exercise.
• Garlic; what isn’t there to say about garlic. For the athlete it is supportive to gastro health, the immune system, the cardiovascular system and may aid iron absorption, antioxidant status and modulate inflammation; and as a sulphur provider will support liver detoxification function.
• Brussels sprouts are an awesome source of vitamin K and Vitamin C and provide decent amounts of B vitamins. Brussels sprouts contains antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and liver supportive phyto-nutrients and may also exert DNA protective benefits, helpful to the active athlete generating increased amounts of free radicals due to elevated oxygen consumption.
• Herbs: I recommend that herbs are added to the diet at every available opportunity to add antibacterial, antioxidant, and nutritional benefits to the meal.
• Bacon – haha you wish!

Ingredients:

Diced red onion

Raw or grass-fed butter

Mushrooms

Parsley and Thyme

Lambs hearts

Brussels sprouts

Unsmoked bacon

garlic

• Red onion – finely diced
• 1 clove of garlic – crushed, peeled and finely diced
• Raw or grass-fed butter
• Mushrooms – finely chopped
• Parsley and thyme (optional oregano – in the pitch black outdoors this is what I got my hands on in the garden!) – finely chopped
• 3 lambs hearts (1 per person and 1 packed lunch!)
• 6 slices of unsmoked bacon
• Optional side vegetables of oven-roasted Brussels sprouts
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Sea salt and black pepper

Instructions:

Pre-heat the oven to approximately 200 C.

Prepare the stuffing; sauté the onions, garlic and then finely chopped mushrooms in butter. When cooked add the chopped herbs. Allow to cool.

Prepare the lambs hearts by cutting away the fat, connective tissue, valves and tendons. Be as conservative as you can you don’t want to cut the whole heart away; only remove that which looks too tough to eat. Do your best to make a cavity in the heart. As I discovered there is not that much space and I preferred to preserve what meat I had so I dealt with what little space I had. Stuff as much of the vegetable stuffing as you can into the lambs heart and then seal together by wrapping with two pieces of bacon.

Do this for each lambs heart; place on a baking tray and start baking covered in foil in the oven (total baking time approximately 30-40 minutes).

Meanwhile peel and wash your sprouts. Roll around in extra virgin olive oil in a baking tray and place in the oven. You will need to keep an eye on these babies as they have a habit of quickly burning. Remove when done.

After approx. 15 or twenty minutes remove the foil from the lambs hearts and allow to bake uncovered so that the bacon can toast. Check the sprouts giving them a shake on occasion and remove when done.

Serve the bacon wrapped hearts with Brussels sprouts and some left-over vegetable stuffing on the side. I as ever had a large dollop of hummus and pesto on the plate!

I had played around with the idea of stuffing the hearts with black pudding but to be honest the hearts are filling, tasty, and also the space to stuff them is pretty tricky as it is. So I am happy with this little meal as it tasted divine 🙂 thumbs up.