PAPPARDELLE WITH CHICKEN LIVERS

Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 25 minutes

Serves 4

Chicken or duck livers make a great base for a pasta sauce, and they are affordable too. There is still a bit of a stigma around eating offal but it’s my favourite of all meats. The livers can be chopped as finely or as coarsely as you wish, and you can add ramsons, also known as wild garlic, to this when available, to give the pasta a seasonal touch.

INGREDIENTS

– 4 tbsp extra-virgin

olive oil

– 4 small shallots, finely

chopped

– 2 garlic cloves, finely

chopped or crushed – 300-350g chicken livers, cleaned and chopped into rough 3cm pieces

– 100ml Marsala – 100ml chicken stock – 400g pappardelle – 60g butter

– 2 tbsp finely chopped

parsley

– Parmesan, freshly

grated, to serve

METHOD

Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy frying pan and gently cook the shallot and garlic without colouring them. Turn up the heat. Season the livers and add them to the pan, frying them over a high heat and stirring every so often until they begin to colour (a couple of minutes).

Tip the livers on to a chopping board and chop them finely with a large knife then return them to the pan along with the Marsala and stock.

Cook on a high heat until the liquid has reduced by about half and the sauce has thickened.

Meanwhile, cook the pappardelle in boiling salted water according to the packet instructions, until al dente, then drain.

Stir two-thirds of the sauce through the pasta, along with the butter and parsley.

Transfer to warmed plates, then spoon over the rest of the sauce. Serve with some grated Parmesan.