Christopher’s seared liver with tomatoes and caramelised onions

‘I’m an artist, but my father was a butcher, and we had a nice little herd of Black Angus for a while. My first cooking job was to make the Saturday morning butcher’s breakfast before I did the deliveries. So I used whatever morsels were around — liver, ends of bacon, kidneys, little lamb chops — fried them up in an old electric frying pan, then served them on a slab of thickly buttered bread. It was a tough gig, as butchers don’t like their meat ruined, so timing was everything. I love good fresh liver, served medium–rare, with jammy onion and pan-roasted tomatoes. Sear the liver at the last minute while the sourdough bread is toasting.’

Christopher Hodges, retail customer

Feeds: 2–4 depending on the size of the liver | Preparation time: 15 minutes | Cooking time: 30 minutes

40 g (1½ oz) butter, plus extra for spreading

2 tablespoons olive oil

2–4 brown onions (1 per person), diced

250 g (9 oz/2 cups) cherry tomatoes, halved

1 lamb, goat or calf (veal) liver, rinsed, membrane removed, sliced into 1.5 cm (⁵/₈ in) strips

1 handful chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves

2–4 slices sourdough bread

Add a generous knob of butter to a frying pan over medium–high heat. Swirl for 2–3 minutes until lightly browned, then add a good dash of olive oil. Add onion and a large pinch of salt, reduce heat to medium–low, and cook, stirring gently, for 15–20 minutes. The onion will slowly turn golden, then brown, sweet and yummy.

Meanwhile, heat a separate frying pan over medium–high heat. Add tomatoes — they’ll sizzle as they hit the pan — then add a bit more butter, season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and cook, turning once, for 5 minutes or until lightly browned and juicy.

Drizzle liver all over with remaining olive oil. Heat a heavy-based frying pan over medium–high heat, add liver and sear it quickly, without turning, for 1 minute until sealed and caramelised a little, then turn it quickly and sear for another minute until nicely browned but still rare in the middle. Transfer to a plate, season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper and top with parsley, then cover with an upturned bowl or a lid — it will keep cooking so by the time you serve it will be cooked through but still pink in the middle.

Meanwhile, toast sourdough in a toaster.

Butter toast, and top with onions, tomatoes and liver to serve.