Coratella di Agnello con Carciofi Romani

Ingredients

• 200 g lamb heart, trimmed of sinew and fat, sliced 1 cm thick
• 200 g lamb lung, sliced 1 cm thick
• 200 g lamb liver, sliced 1 cm thick
• 4 Roman artichokes (carciofi romaneschi), trimmed alla Romana: outer leaves removed, choke excised, 2 cm stem retained, rubbed with lemon
• 1 lemon, halved, for rubbing trimmed artichokes
• 120 ml dry white wine, Frascati preferred
• 60 ml extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, lightly crushed
• 1 splash white wine vinegar, for soaking the offal
• 1 small onion, finely sliced
• 4 sprigs fresh marjoram, leaves only
• to taste black pepper, coarsely ground; used generously
• to taste fine sea salt
• 4 thick slices pane casareccio, grilled

Method

1. 1
   Place all sliced offal in a bowl of cold water with a splash of white wine vinegar. Leave for 30 minutes, then drain and pat thoroughly dry with kitchen paper. The water should run clear and the flesh should show no residual blood.
2. 2
   Trim the artichokes alla Romana: strip away all fibrous outer leaves until the pale, tender inner leaves are exposed; excavate the choke entirely; retain 2 cm of stem, peeled. Rub every cut surface immediately with the lemon half. Hold trimmed artichokes in cold lemon water until needed — they must show no browning.
3. 3
   Warm the olive oil in a wide, heavy pan over medium-high heat. Add the crushed garlic and sauté until fragrant and pale gold, then add the artichokes cut-side down. Cook, turning once, until the artichokes are golden on their flat faces and yield slight resistance to the tip of a knife — approximately 8–10 minutes.
4. 4
   This is where the dish lives or dies: add the offal in strict sequence, never all at once. Nestle the heart slices among the artichokes and cook 8–10 minutes, turning once, until the heart is firm and cooked through with no raw red at the centre. Add the lung and cook a further 6 minutes — it will lose its spongy give and take on a uniform pale colour. Add the liver last and cook only 2–3 minutes; it must remain barely pink at the centre. Grey liver is overcooked and cannot be recovered.
5. 5
   Deglaze the pan with the Frascati, scraping up any sediment. Reduce by half over brisk heat — the wine smell should lose its raw sharpness and integrate with the oil and juices.
6. 6
   Add the sliced onion and marjoram leaves. Stir gently and cook 2 minutes further. Season aggressively with coarsely ground black pepper and sea salt — coratella requires more pepper than most Roman preparations. Taste: the pepper should be forward, the wine present but not raw, the offal savoury and distinct.
7. 7
   Serve immediately on thick slices of grilled pane casareccio, spooning the cooking juices over the bread so it absorbs them fully. The bread beneath should be saturated but hold its structure.