Crostini Toscana

 

CROSTINI TOSCANA

CROSTINI TOSCANA

CROSTINI TOSCANA

Ingreidents :

• 500g (1 lb) chicken livers
• 1-2 cloves of garlic, peeled and slight crushed
• A few fresh sage leaves
• Olive oil, plus a knob of butter
• 7 juniper berries, slightly crushed
• Broth, preferably homemade
• 4 anchovy fillets, rinsed and roughly chopped
• 1 Tb capers, rinsed and roughly chopped

Preparation :

Sauté the garlic and sage leaves gently in the oil and butter until the garlic is just beginning to brown. Add the chicken livers and sauté for 10 minutes or so. Then add a pinch of salt and pepper, along with the juniper berries, slightly crushed with the back of a knife or in a mortar and pestle. Turn and add a ladleful of broth. Let things simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Off heat, drain the chicken livers in a colander, saving the liquid and removing the garlic and sage leaves. In a food processor, chop the livers until you have a roughish paste—don’t overdo it—and then scrape the liver paste back into the skillet, along with the reserved liquid. Thin out the paste with another ladleful of the broth, and simmer gently until almost all the liquid has evaporated.  Just before it’s done, mix the chopped anchovies and capers and simmer for a minute or two more, until the anchovy has melted completely into the paste. Taste for seasoning and remove from the heat. Let the liver paste cool for a few minutes.

Serve the liver paste on slices of bread, toasted or not as you prefer. You can serve Chicken Liver Crostini warm or at room temperature. The liver paste can be made ahead and, if you like, gently reheated with a bit of broth or butter; in fact, many say it’s tastier that way.