Dish of Sweetbreads with Mushroom Sauce
(click to enlarge)

Sweetbreads in Mushroom Sauce


Italy   -   Animelle di Vitello ai Funghi
Serves:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 4 main
***
5 to 9 hrs
Yes		 Mild, tender sweetbreads were once popular, but now appear only in fancy restaurants - and in Mediterranean cuisine. This dish was very popular at a recent buffet party.




2
3
ar
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1/2
9
5
2
1
1/4
1/2
1/4
1/4
1/3
1/4
1
1-1/2
------
1/4
1/4
2
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#
oz

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oz
oz
oz
cl
T
c
c
c
t
t
t
c
t
---
c
c
T
---

Sweetbreads (1)
Butter
Breadcrumbs (fine)
-- Sauce
Mushrooms dried (2)  
Mushrooms, fresh
Onion
Garlic
Parsley, fresh
Olive Oil, ExtV
Marsala wine
Stock
Thyme, dry
Salt
Pepper
Cream, heavy
Cornstarch
------------
Butter
Butter (more)
Olive Oil, ExtV
-- Garnish
Parsley
Prep   (4-1/2 to 8-1/2 hrs depending - 20 min work)
  1. Prepare the SWEETBREADS in accordance with the instructions on our Veal Sweetbreads page.
  2. Slice Sweetbreads about 1/2 inch thick.
  3. Soak DRIED MUSHROOMS in enough water to cover for an hour or more. Drain, reatining the soaking liquid, and chop fine.
  4. Chop ONION fine. Crush GARLIC and chop fine. Chop PARSLEY fairly fine. Mix.
  5. Trim MUSHROOM stems flush with the caps. Slice caps thin. Chop stem pieces small.
Run   (30 min)
  1. In a auce pan heat 1/4 c Olive Oil and fry Onion mix until translucent. Stir in chopped Soaked Mushrooms for a minute or so, then the Fresh Mushrooms. Fry stirring for 1 minute, then stir in 1/2 cup Soaking Liquid, Marsala, Stock, Salt and Pepper.
  2. Cook on a fast simmer, stirring now and then, until most, but not all, the liquid has evaporated.
  3. Stir Cornstarch into Cream unitl well distributed, then stir into the saucepan. Bring to a simmer and simmer slowly for a few minutes until the sauce has thickened. Adjust liquid if needed and keep warm.
  4. Melt 1/4 cup Butter and tumble the Sweetbreads with it until well coated. Then tumble them with Breadcrumbs until lightly coated.
  5. In a spacious sauté pan or skillet, heat Butter (more) and Olive Oil. Fry Sweetbreads, tumbling often until golden on both sides.
  6. Drain Sweetbreads and arrange in a serving dish. Pour sauce over. Garnish with chopped Parsley and serve hot. (see Note-5). This dish can be served with Polenta, Rice or Pasta as you wish.
NOTES:

  1. Sweetbreads:

      These are generally available in markets serving Turkish, Armenian, Middle Eastern and Latin American communities. For details see our Veal Sweetbreads page.

  2. Mushrooms, dried:

      Officially, these should be dried Porcini, which are rather costly and sometimes difficult to find around here. Some recipes use fresh Portabelas or Crimini - different flavor but certainly workable. I have found quite usable dried mushrooms from China in large Asian markets here in Los Angeles and use a mix of different kinds - but not Shiitakes / Chinese Black Mushrooms which are too strong and distinctively Asian.

  3. Serving:

      For table service you can arrange as in the photo (actual sauce color will be lighter because I increased the amount of cream and cornstarch after the photo was taken). For buffet service I tumble the Sweetbreads with the Sauce and put thim in a warmer - with a smallish serving spoon to encourage taking smaller portions.
  4. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch, ar=as required tt=to taste
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