Crostini with liver spread – Crostini ai fegatini
This appetizer is a specialty from Tuscany, it usually has a stronger taste but this recipe is more delicate. Even someone who doesn’t really care for liver will enjoy this version. I assure you that when you start eating it it will be very difficult to stop.
Ingredients:
10 1/2 oz. chicken liver
1 finely minced medium onion
1 finely minced medium carrot
1 finely minced celery stalk
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
6 Tbsp. dry white wine
4 Tbsp. tomato sauce
3 Tbsp. chopped capers
2 Tbsp. finely chopped Italian parsley
a dash of salt and pepper
about 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
10 slices of pane toscano (Tuscan bread) also called pane sciocco because it doesn’t contain salt
Instructions:
1. In a medium-size saucepan melt 1 1/2 Tbsp. butter with the olive oil over medium heat.
2. When the butter foams add the minced vegetables and cook them for 5 minutes.
3. Add the white wine and stir until it evaporates.
4. Stir in the tomato sauce, salt, pepper and 1 cup of water. Then cook for 30-35 minutes. If it gets too dry add a little bit of more water.
5. Meanwhile cut the chicken liver finely and when the vegetables are tender add the liver to the vegetables and cook it for about 5 minutes.
6. Put the liver mixture in a food processor, add the rest of the butter, the capers, the parsley and puree it until creamy. Let it cool for 15 minutes to let the flavors sit.
7. Toast the slices of bread in the oven or grill them, cut them in smaller pieces (if you’re using Toscano bread) and then spread the liver cream on them.
8. Serve immediately.
Hello again. I was so pleased to go through your site! And from someone from Northern Italy! (not too far from where I come from, a small town in the Vicenza province, but only about an hours’s drive from Verona..) Anyway, re. crostini ai fegatini di pollo: the great aunt I mentioned before lived near Florence for many years, and she used to make them as a treat. You think your recipe is strong? Well, try and melt a tin of anchovies in the oil before adding the livers…let me know how you like them? Sounds strange, I know, but well Yum! Also have you got a recipe for “baccala’ alla vicentina”? My mum doesn’t know and we sometimes buy it from a local takeaway (rosticceria). Now that I live in Brixton, South London, and because of the large West Indian and Portuguese populations Salt Cod is cheaply and widely available…good with polenta! And one last request: recipe for rice batter, I think, fritters with anchovy or feverfew (“fritole con la sardela o la maresina”) typical of village feast day (sagra) or at markets, but sadly dying out both because of changes in eating habits and different types of stallholders at markets etc… Saw a facebook site for the protection of the “fritole” but as I’m totally useless at this new computer stuff I couldn’t get it back. Well Patty, thanks for reading and thanks for the wonderful recipes! All the best. Cris
Hi Cristina,
I actually love anchovies so I’m going to try it and thanks for the idea. I haven’t published a recipe for baccalà alla vicentina yet because I’m still trying to find the right balance of flavors. To make baccalà alla vicentina you should look for dried cod fish or stock fish (stoccafisso) which is not dried in salt but is dessicated. We, in Veneto wrongly call it baccalà, but it’s not the one used in the baccalà alla vicentina.
Baccalà on the other hand is really good too and much cheaper. I make it with onions, tomatoes, anchovies, capers and black olives. I don’t have a recipe for it but if you’re interested I can write you how I prepare it.
I love frittelle con l’erba madre (maresina). I actually have quite a few plants in my garden, but I only use it to make cakes. I’ve never heard a rice batter for frittelle con l’erba madre so I don’t know how to help you there. I don’t have a recipe for fritole with anchovies either, but I’ll look into that you got me curious.