To get off to an early start, I always try to over-winter one or two chilli plants and, as it is quite slow to grow and come into production, fatalii is always one of them. Mind you, as we have a freezer full of 2013 chillies I'm not to worried for 2014!
We don't eat a lot of meat and usually then only on weekends; whilst we do have an excellent butcher in the next village, his prices reflect the quality of his products, so it is a case of little and not very often. So this Saturday the carnivorous option was going to be something with chicken livers. A 300g tub cost under two Euros and as this recipe only needed half the pot, that left the rest to be frozen for another day.
I often do a simple sauce to go with home made pasta - garlic, onions, livers, sage, tomato and brandy. A little of the cooking water gets the sauce to a nice pasta coating unctuousness and that is that. But this week I really needed a chilli hit. The various Lyme treatments have left my digestive system in a less than perfectly functioning state, so we've been on the bland so far this year. But there gets to a point when you just have to have a chilli blast!
This super cheap dish is great with plain rice, or possibly mash, if that's your thing. Adjust the chilli to your taste, of course.
Serves 2
150g chicken livers
2 medium onions
1 clove garlic
1 fatalii chilli or to taste
butter - a healthy lump
250ml passata, or about half a tin of tomatoes
salt and pepper
Worcestershire sauce - a good glug
Method
Peel and halve the onions and thinly slice. Melt the butter in a heavy pan, add the onions and allow to slowly caramelise, turning periodically. When the onions are soft and a rich brown colour remove from the pan and set aside.
Remove any membrane or white tissue from the livers and cut into bite-sized pieces. Add a little more butter to the pan, turn up the heat a little and add the livers. Cook briefly, just enough to get some colour onto the outside. Do not overcook them as the longer they cook the drier and more bitter they become. Remove from the pan and set aside, leaving any residual fat in the pan.
Finely chop the garlic and chilli and add to the pan. Gently fry until soft and fragrant; your eyes may water a little! Add the tomato passata and as it begins to thicken return the onions to the pan. If it becomes too thick just add a little water. Season with salt, pepper and the Worcestershire sauce.
Just before you are ready to sit down and eat, return the livers and any accumulated juices to the pan and mix everything in together.
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