In vincisgrassi, which offal appears alongside chicken livers?

In vincisgrassi, sweetbreads appear alongside chicken livers as part of the dish’s traditional offal-rich filling.

Vincisgrassi is a baked pasta specialty from Italy’s Marche region, especially associated with Macerata. It resembles lasagna, but traditional versions may use a meat sauce containing mushrooms, chicken livers, and sweetbreads. Sweetbreads are culinary terms for the thymus or pancreas of a young animal, not a baked or sugary bread.

The recipe reflects an older European cooking tradition in which cooks used prized organ meats as well as muscle meat. This gives vincisgrassi a richer, more distinctive character than many everyday lasagna recipes. Modern versions vary, and some omit offal entirely, but sweetbreads are the canonical answer for the traditional preparation described in the quiz.

The dish’s name is traditionally linked to Austrian general Alfred von Windisch-Grätz, who was associated with the siege of Ancona in 1799. An earlier related recipe, called princisgrass, appeared in a 1779 cookbook, suggesting the dish predates that naming story.