Pasta al Fegato With the Deli’s Chopped Liver
A transition out of Passover eating to make at your house
With Passover winding down for the season, I was reminded about this great little pasta dish that I love but haven’t made in a while—it just seemed like a wonderful way to take an Ashkenazi Passover staple I grew up with and combine it with one of the foods I missed most during the holiday, pasta! All in the spirit of an old school Italian dish, pasta al fegato, or “pasta with liver.”
I’m not sure why this recipe idea didn’t occur to me sooner, but a few years ago it came to me, and it’s about as easy as you’ll find (if you pick up chopped liver from the Deli, so you don’t have to make it yourself). If you like chopped liver as much as Tammie and I do, it just might start showing up at your house, too. It’s an easy way to enjoy the complex, earthy excellence of the typical Italian combination. I don’t know much about the history of the dish, but it’s not all that hard to come up with a pretty reasonable and practical story. Liver has historically been inexpensive. And pasta, a staple. In the traditional cucina povera (peasant cooking), nothing goes to waste. Why not turn a little leftover liver into a filling, flavorful meal by putting it on pasta?
In our current context, the idea of making this dish started when, at Tammie’s request, I brought home some chopped liver from the Deli. All of a sudden, I started wondering if maybe the chopped liver would lead me to a great shortcut for this classic Italian pasta. Sure enough, it worked remarkably well! The pasta dish couldn’t have been easier and it’s terrifically tasty. Like most things we make for our late evening dinners, it’s quick to put together. And, like many of the foods I favor, there are a whole host of different additions one can easily add to enhance the basic dish.
Start by picking up some chopped liver from the Deli (or make your own). A half pound works well for dinner for two. Bring a big pot of water to a boil, salt it generously, and then add pasta. As always, I will make an appeal here to use great artisan pasta—it makes a world of difference. As my friend Rolando Beramendi writes in his amazing book Autentico, “The texture and flavor matter—it’s very important that your pasta has flavor, not just be simply flour and water.” I made the dish the other evening with the fantastic Rustichella fettuccine we get from the Peduzzi family in the Abruzzo region—very high-quality wheat, bronze-die-extruded, and slow, low temperature drying. It is by far the best fettuccine I’ve ever had!
Let the chopped liver come to room temperature while the pasta is cooking. Mix in a tablespoon of the pasta cooking water with the chopped liver. When the pasta is al dente, drain it and put it all into a warm mixing bowl. Dress the just-cooked pasta with good olive oil and a bunch of really good, freshly-ground black pepper, a pinch of sea salt, and mix well. Add the chopped liver and a little chopped fresh parsley and mix. That’s it, really. Serve in warm bowls topped with a bit more olive oil and pepper and a light grating of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.
If you want to add a bit to the mix, the dish works very well with sautéed mushrooms—there are lots of good local ones on the market around here. And/or it’s also good with nuts—hazelnuts or walnuts would be my choice. Great topped with caramelized onions. If you like it a touch sweeter, you could add a few drops of good balsamic vinegar. It’d be wonderful with the amazing Pojer e Santi Quince Vinegar we have at the Deli. And/or garnish with a few drops of that awesome Balsamella apple balsamic. It makes a really nice holiday appetizer or just a great last-minute meal for a Monday night.
Live for liver?
