Chicken Liver Pate on Crostini Vetri Style

Chicken Liver Pate?!  Don’t leave the page just yet. I know many of you can’t even imagine eating chicken livers in any form but hang in here. This rustic chicken liver pate recipe adapted from Marc Vetri’s il viaggio di vetri cookbook is simply divine.

Yes, there is a distinctive chicken liver flavor, but with all of the other ingredients combined, it is not overwhelming.  In fact, you might be surprised and dismayed at the amount of butter this wonderful recipe contains. It is extremely rich so a little goes a long way. I’ve prepared it many times for parties or when friends spend the weekend and the reception is always overwhelmingly positive.

You have heard me mention Chef Vetri on many occasions here. He and his partner Jeff Benjamin host The Great Chef’s Event to raise money for the Alex’s Lemonade Foundation, a noble cause to help find a cure for childhood cancer. Marc and Jeff invite a bunch of their favorite chefs to come to Philly to cook small plates for hundreds of foodies like myself.  It is in my opinion this is one of the best culinary events anyone could wish for and supports a great cause.

I adapt Marc’s recipe a little because I was missing an ingredient or two and cut it in half because the original makes quite a bit, and I didn’t think I would eat it all.  Besides, the thought of frozen pate is just not appealing, if it can be frozen at ll. (If you read this post Marc, please let me know.) Like I said, a little will fill you up.

This recipe is extremely affordable. The chicken livers cost me only  $1.50 for a half a pound!  There are a few other ingredients that are more expensive but you only need a small quantity and you can always substitute. I didn’t have pancetta, a salt cured pork belly, so I substituted bacon and it didn’t hurt the overall flavor one bit.

If you ever want to enjoy a country style rustic chicken pate, I suggest you give this one a try. I’m sure it will become an often-repeated appetizer in your culinary repertoire.

Chicken Liver Pate on Country Bread Toasts

Ingredients:

• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 small garlic clove
• ½ pound chicken livers
• 1 fresh rosemary sprig
• 1 fresh sage sprig
• 1 ounce of unsmoked bacon, finely chopped – (pancetta if you can find it)
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• ½ onion
• 1 tablespoon of Port
• 1 tablespoon cognac
• 1 teaspoon white truffle paste (you can substitute ¼ teaspoon white truffle oil
• Loaf of Italian bread, sliced thin and toasted
• 1 – 2 tablespoons of oil to make the Crostini

How to Make at Home

Start by heating up a sauté pan (frying pan) over medium high heat and adding 2 tablespoons of butter. Add the garlic and sauté for a couple of minutes until golden.  Watch it carefully;, you don’t want to let it burn.

Add the chicken livers, bacon, rosemary and sage. Stir and let this cook for about 1 minute.  Season with salt and pepper.

Reduce the heat to low and add the onion. Sauté for 25 to 30 minutes until the onions are soft and the chicken livers are cooked.

Off heat, add the port and Cognac. Raise the heat to medium-high and return the pan to stove. The recipe says to simmer until the liquid is reduced by half but I found it reduced to nothing right away. Remove the pan from the heat and let it cool.

Take out the sprigs of rosemary and sage and transfer the liver mixture to a food processor. Add the remaining butter and truffle paste. Puree this mixture until smooth.

Chef Vetri suggests straining the puree through a tamis or fine-mesh sieve into a bowl but we don’t. Why?  Well…..it takes more time, it is very messy and we like the texture of pate without straining it.  I’ll have to try straining it and see if there is a difference.

I put the pate into a ramekin, covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for at least one hour but you’ll want to take it out 15 minutes before serving.

Serving

Toast the bread slices. Add some pate to the toasted bread (Crostini) and drizzle some olive oil on top.
The liver should keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. I have no idea if you can freeze it but will try to find out.

Saute the chicken livers

Adding a spring of rosemary

Adding onion to the pan

Puree the livers in a food processor