Recipe below: Fettuccine with Chicken Liver, Prosciutto, and Thyme
I’ve been thinking about foods people love, things they even crave. Chocolate is a big crave for a lot of people. It’s not my thing. I seem to crave red wine often, maybe a little too often. I’m also drawn to food that tastes a bit metallic, like canned seafood (especially Spanish mussels) and all types of liver. It’s made me wonder if I had an iron deficiency, but I don’t think so, since I take a multivitamin. I think the craving is not in my body but in my soul. Metallic and bitter tastes are just part of what I am.
I especially love chicken livers for their creaminess. Cooking them fast over high heat so they caramelize on the outside but stay pink and tender on the inside is the only way. And a good flame of cognac at the end and you really set their lusciousness.
If you love chicken livers as I do, or even if you sort of think you like them, or for that matter if you think you don’t like them, give this recipe a try. I’d love to convert you.
Fettuccine with Chicken Liver, Prosciutto, and Thyme
Extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 medium shallots, cut into small dice
Salt
Black pepper
2 fresh bay leaves
6 long thyme sprigs, the leaves lightly chopped
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ cup dry vermouth
½ cup homemade chicken broth
3 thin slices prosciutto, cut into skinny strips
1 pound fresh fettuccine
1 pound chicken livers, trimmed, cut into approximately ½-inch pieces, and well dried
½ teaspoon sugar
A splash of cognac
A few drops of rice wine vinegar
A palmful of flat-leaf parsley leaves, lightly chopped
A chunk of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
Get out a large sauté pan, and place it over medium heat. Add a big drizzle of olive oil and a tablespoon of butter. Add the shallots, seasoning with a little salt and black pepper. Add the bay leaves, half of the thyme, and the nutmeg. Sauté until fragrant, about 4 minutes or so. Add the vermouth, and let it bubble a bit. Add the chicken broth and the prosciutto, turn the heat down a notch, and simmer for about 5 minutes.
While the sauce is simmering, set up a pot of pasta cooking water, and bring it to a boil. Add salt. Drop in the fettuccine.
Take out a medium sauté pan, and get it hot over high heat.
Toss the chicken livers with a little salt, black pepper, and the sugar. Add the rest of the butter to the pan, and let it get hot and foamy. Add the livers, spreading them out in one layer, and brown them quickly on one side. Give them a flip, and cook them another minute. You want them to be a bit crispy on the outside and still pink at the center. Add the cognac, being careful—it will probably flame up, but that’s what you want. Shake the pan a bit, and then tilt the livers into the shallot sauce. Add the rest of the thyme. Give the livers and sauce a taste. If it all seems too sweet, add a few drops of rice wine vinegar (very little), to bring up its acidity.
When the fettuccine is tender, drain it. Pour it into a large serving bowl. Add the chicken liver sauce, the parsley, and a drizzle of fresh olive oil. Toss gently. Taste for seasoning. Grate a little Parmigiano over the top, and bring the rest of the cheese to the table.
Erica De Mane 
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