PAPPARDELLE
AI FEGATINI

PAPPARDELLE WITH CHICKEN LIVERS

This is a practical and very tasty recipe. The pasta is cooked in stock and dressed with sautéed chicken livers and parmesan. The tradition is to serve the pasta with a little chicken stock … with home-made stock it’s even better!

SERVES 6 PREPARATION TIME: 20 MINUTES COOKING TIME: 20 MINUTES

HOME-MADE PAPPARDELLE

400 g (14 oz/2²/₃ cups) strong flour

8 egg yolks

THE SAUCE

400 g (14 oz) chicken livers (see recommendation below)

A few sage leaves

50 g (1³/₄ oz) butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 litres (70 fl oz/8 cups) home-made chicken stock, or made with an organic stock cube

50 g (1³/₄ oz) parmesan cheese, grated

Make the pasta as explained on or use ready-made.

To make the sauce: Clean the chicken livers. Remove any fatty parts, wash the livers and dry them with paper towels. Dice. Brown the liver with the sage for 5 minutes in a large frying pan with half the butter and the olive oil on medium–high heat, season with salt and pepper. Bring the stock to the boil in a saucepan and add the pasta. Once the pasta is al dente, drain it, and add it to the livers, with a ladleful of the cooking stock. Stir on high heat, reduce the liquid a little, add the remaining butter in pieces and the grated parmesan. Serve immediately.

RECOMMENDATION

Make sure the livers are very fresh and don’t have any greenish (gall) spots. Buy livers that are pink, as they’re more delicate and flavoursome than the bright red ones. Preferably soak the livers for 30 minutes in water to remove the blood.

NOTE

Poultry livers and giblets are very common in Venetian cuisine. The famous Treviso gastronome Giuseppe Maffioli claims the best-tasting liver is rabbit liver, then, in order of preference, turkey, duck, goose and chicken.