Creamy Chicken Liver Bavette Pasta
Creamy rich butter-sage sauce with tender chicken livers over Bavette Pasta
Picking the chicken livers
Before we start cooking, if you have a chance to pick the livers yourself, go for the pale pink ones. I know it sounds strange, but the pale pink livers are creamier and softer than the dark red ones. They are fattier, yes — but if we're eating a chicken liver pasta dish, you want the best texture and taste. In any case, avoid chicken livers with greenish marks. That's from bile leaching out of the gallbladder at the butcher's shop, and it'll taste bitter. Don't use those.
Chicken liver pasta cooking
Like any meat, chicken livers get tough and grainy at high temperatures. It happens because of how proteins react to high heat — the basic protein molecule structure gets disrupted and changes shape, which affects both texture and taste. Chicken livers are extremely delicate, and the gap between an overcooked liver and a perfect medium-well one is very short. So keep a very close eye on them while you're browning.The Science spot
We're applying high heat to the livers to get them seared — this is also called the Maillard reaction, which you can see as the color change of the meat into golden brown, along with the release of aroma. This scientific phenomenon occurs when high heat triggers amino acids that, combined with certain sugars, break down and recombine into hundreds of different compounds. The Maillard reaction only occurs at temperatures above 310°F / 154°C — though it does depend on the pH level of the food.
Cooking the sauce
The butter, sage, and heavy cream sauce is very rich in fat, and we let it reduce by half — we want it just to coat the chicken livers, not have them swimming in it. At this step, the final cooking comes together: the livers that were seared and half-cooked get their finishing on low heat, bringing them to perfection.Method
- 1
sear the chicken livers· 5 minutes
Set a large iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tbsp of olive oil and when smoking hot add the chicken livers. Season with salt and pepper, cook 30 seconds to 1 minute on each side and take them out
- 2
Make the sauce· 10 minutes
On the same iron skillet (no need to clean the livers left overs, it will add flavor to the sauce), add the butter, onions and sage. Cook until transparent and add the garlic, cook for 2 more minutes and add the white wine. Use a wooden spoon to scrape the bottom of the pan to add flavor to the sauce. Pour the heavy cream, season with some more salt and pepper and bring sauce to simmer. Reduce heat to low and cook for 3-4 more minutes until the sauce reduces a bit.
- 3
finishing the dish and serving· 7 minutes
Insert the chicken livers into the sauce (still on low heat) and cook for 5-7 more minutes until the livers are medium-well. meanwhile, set a bowl of salted hot water and drop in the pasta, cook according to manufacturer instructions. Drain pasta and set on a serving plate. Add parsley to the chicken liver cream sauce, remove from heat and place some of the livers and sauce on the pasta. Add some more fresh parsley, drizzle some olive oil and serve immediately.
Jaron Kimhi
Jaron Kimhi — self-taught home cook from Tel Aviv, writing and cooking every recipe on this site himself. 20+ years of tinkering in the kitchen, leaning toward slow cooking, classic technique, and honest ingredients.
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