Pate’ di Fegatini / Crostini alla Chiantigiana

You stand over it, pondering on the soft, delicate, visceral mass and you start to feel ever so slightly nervous. Some are bright red, some dark red, some big, some small and the flesh submits to the touch. You have an epiphany that your own liver is equally as delicate, but instead of being the picture of health it is instead probably a bit ratty around the edges and you wonder about all those Sunday mornings when you can just about piece together the night before.

Fact. Once you cook with liver you start to respect your own.

Anyway.

It is technically impossible to find a restaurant in Tuscany which does not offer liver pate served on crunchy crostini.

Pate’ di Fegatini

Probably because most people absolutely detest it, chicken liver per pound is probably the cheapest and most nutritional foodstuff you can still buy for pennies.

The crostini at the back is mashed Cannelloni beans with olive oil, a hint of garlic and rosemary prepared for a girlfriend who grew up in Tuscany but who does not eat liver.

Make your crostini (stale bread, brush with olive oil and bake in the oven until light gold)

For the pate, fry the onion until soft, chuck a pound of livers in, throw in some chopped sage leaves, the juice of half a lemon. Cook through, and then blitz or run through a sieve. Season. Serve warm on the crostini.

Variations – add some chili, sweat some pancetta into the onions etc.

Antipasti di vedure

Four different antipasti tonight. Take three zucchini, one melanzana and four portabello mushrooms, thinly slice (3mm-5mm),  brush on both sides with olive oil infused with parsley and garlic and then grill on a very hot pan. The melanaza was grilled and dressed with more chili.  The whole effort took about an hour while listening to the radio. Easily enough for four.

The mozzarella di bufala was marinated in olive oil, basil and chili for an hour or two and served with some very sweet tomatoes. Dress with chopped herbs and more olive oil.

Arancini

Arancini are a Sicilian invention – fried balls of risotto rice, filled with ham and cheese, or meat sauce and peas, even aubergines or mushrooms. In this case, I have done a classic version with white risotto (no onion) stuffed with ragù and provolone piccante, dipped in egg, flour and breadcrumbs (pangrattato) and fried in vegetable oil. Let’s face it – this is cheese, meat sauce, encased in a cheesy risotto, which is then deep fried. Ace. The downside is the use of hot oil – be careful with this. Don’t get the oil on and go upstairs to play PGA golf with your mates only to be disturbed by the Fire Brigade an hour later with your kitchen burning down (Bristol, 1995).

Arancino (Arancini)

First make the  risotto as it will need to cool down to room temperature. Get the rice in a pan and cook it in olive oil – without onion or wine. Use a good vegetable stock. Finish with a cup or two of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and set aside. Push it down an inch thick onto a tray so it can cool quicker.

Follow the ragù recipe here.

Lay out your coatings –  whisk three or four eggs in a bowl, a plate of unseasoned flour and a deep bowl of breadcrumbs.

Also your lay out your risotto, ragù and some small cubes of provolone piccante.

Get a saucepan of oil – on a medium heat (around 170 degrees), filled no more than one-third with vegetable oil.

Each arancino should be about the size of a small clementine.  Mine turned out all shapes and sizes.

So…

Wet your hands, and take a scoop of the risotto in one hand and push it 1.5cm flat. In the centre, being careful not to break through the mixture, add in a teaspoon or two of the ragu and a cube of the provolone. Close up the sides into a ball and dip into the egg, the flour, the egg and then the breadcrumbs. Make in batches of three/four and then fry for 4-5 minutes turning them to ensure a crispy coating. You will have to wash your hands between batches to keep everything clean. I always make a right mess, but I don’t really care about these things. You can eat these right away but they are also excellent cold.

Pomodori ripieni Siciliani

Pomodori ripieni Siciliani

There is something absolutely 1970’s about this one. A cold tomato, stuffed with prawns, green olives and celery. It sounds odd, but it works.  More so, it actually makes prawns interesting as the olives and celery work to bring out the sweetness in the seafood. I still like a classic prawn cocktail, but you can eat this version regularly without popping an artery.

Buy two ripe beef tomatoes (one per person). Slice off the top and scoop out the insides (pulp and seeds). Sprinkle with salt and leave face down on some kitchen roll to dry out.

For the filling, poach 500gms of shelled prawns or small shrimps in salt water with some celery. Meanwhile chop a few handfuls of mild green olives, half a stalk of finely diced celery, a small bunch of finely chopped parsley. Add the cooked prawns – which you should tear into pieces rather than chop. Mix all the ingredients together with the juice of half a lemon, salt, pepper and some dried chili. Finish with a glug of olive oil, and stuff the tomatoes. Serve straight away or chill in the fridge for an hour.