Sweetbreads, spaetzle, ricotta and tomatoes

This is such an epic challenge, it deserves its very own post. That and Tristan isn't here so I'm in charge. Here is the story of how Monica learned to cook cow glands.

I knew something was up when I came home from work and Tristan had a ridiculous grin on his face. He said he had been to Bloomington Meats, so I knew I was in for a horrible treat. Not because I dislike the store, but because I knew he went there to find something crazy for me. Tristan knew I’d have a priceless reaction during the reveal, so of course he caught it on film.

Gorgeous.

Sweetbreads, spaetzle, rictotta and tomatoes

What are sweetbreads? It is a term used to refer to specific glands of an animal. Sometimes the throat, gullet or neck. Sometimes they are of the stomach, and heart variety. Ours were the neck variety of a cow.

We had seen sweetbreads on an episode of chopped before but that didn’t mean I knew what to do with them. This was one of those few times I needed to look in a cookbook. I checked in Bittman’s How to Cook Everything and to my chagrin, did not find sweetbreads in the index (LIAR!) So I used the Betty Crocker Cookbook that we have had in our family all my life and has more than a few samples on the pages, if you get my drift. Can I just say that my father will be ecstatic to know I used our family cookbook.

Can you smell the deliciousness?

Turns out, you have to boil them in water with a splash of vinegar (after defrosting) before you can really cook them the way you want. While that was boiling away, I finally figure out what the hell I was going to make. LASAGNA!! So I made a tomato sauce with tomato, sweet pepper (Thanks, Jen!), garlic, fresh basil and some dried thyme and oregano. I also boiled the spaetzle just like you would pasta during this. I also made a fresh spinach and fresh basil chop to layer in.

Appetizing, isn't it?

Once the sweetbreads had boiled for 20 mins, I took them out and cut into it. I cut them into small chunks (in case they were disgusting, we could still pick them out). Then sauteed them to make sure they were cooked through and to get rid of that disgusting grey color. Then I began to layer the lasagna.

Tomato sauce, spaetzle, ricotta, spinach and basil, sweetbreads, repeat. I topped with some grated mozzarella and threw it into the oven to warm it all up—about 15 minutes.

Still slightly gray.

The result? A fantastic meal! I don’t know if Tristan had any hope about this, but I sure didn’t once I saw the protein. We were both very pleasantly surprised by the dish. The sweetbreads were chewing but tasted fine. Tristan said they were his favorite part. I wasn’t such a fan, but could at least tolerate them and acknowledge my success with them.

And, in case you were wondering, we have another package of sweetbreads in the freezer so you know Tristan will be seeing them in his basket soon!