Braised pig heart

My brother had just butchered a pig, and I was lucky enough to be given the heart (among other bits!). So what better to eat on Valentine's Day?

The only trouble was, when I went to the fridge, there were no mushrooms, no courgettes, no aubergine, no butternut squash, no leeks and the sweet peppers had gone bad! So I was left to improvise with what I did have. And it was good!


1 pig's heart, cut into small pieces. I removed the big artery from the top.
1 red and 1 white onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 chilli pepper, chopped
1 small tin sweetcorn
A similar amount of frozen peas
1/4 cup (60 ml) red lentils
1/2 cup (120 ml) pearl barley
1/2 bottle (325 ml, but I didn't really measure!) red wine
1 tbs cooking oil (I used stir fry oil, as it's seasoned)
1 Knorr beef stock pot (they don't seem to do pork!)
Seasoning included salt, pepper, chilli pepper, paprika, Worcestershire sauce.

I cooked the onions in the oil, and browned the hearts, then added everything else, brought it to the boil and put it in the oven on gas mark 3 for about 3-3 1/2 hours. Served with a green vegetable (Brussels Sprouts in this case).