To be honest, I’d never cooked or eaten chicken liver risotto before. Then one day I was researching people’s favorite risotto recipes, and surprisingly chicken liver risotto came up as one of the most common results.
I thought there must be a reason for it, so I went ahead and I tried to find an original Italian chicken risotto recipe. It turned out to be delicious, and that’s what I’m going to share with you below.
Compared with vegetable risotto recipes, chicken liver risotto takes more time and patience to cook, but it’s really worth it. There’s also a slight difference in the method of cooking; as your base is not an onion-garlic mixture but sofrito or mirepois, that is onion, carrot, and celery.
If this is your first time cooking Italian risotto, please check out my risotto secrets to see how to make it really delicious. It’s worth the extra read, and you’ll be left wanting more and more.
Risotto is often served as an entrée or primo piatto in Italy, but of course you can eat it as a main dish. This recipe serves 4 as a main dish or 8-10 as a traditional Italian appetizer.
Original recipe: Giallo Zafferano
Chicken liver risotto
Ingredients
- 2½ cups risotto rice Carnaroli, Roma, Arborio, Vialone nano, 500 g
- 1 carrot
- 1 onion
- 1 stalk celery
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 1 pound chicken liver 500 g
- 6 cups chicken stock
- 1 stick butter 120 g
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese 50 g
- 10 sage leaves
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
Instructions
- To prepare chicken liver risotto, first heat up your chicken stock so that it is hot enough to add to the rice. It should be simmering gently. Meanwhile wash and dice your carrots, celery, and onions and blend them in a food processor.
- Clean your chicken liver and cut it into ¼ – ½ cm (1/5 – 1/3 inch) slices.
- Heat one tablespoon of olive oil and 1/4 cup (50g) of butter in a pan. Add your sage leaves and sear them for about one minute.
- Add your chicken liver pieces and some freshly ground black pepper. Sear for 5-6 minutes and stir occasionally until they become brownish on all sides.
- Pour ½ cup of white wine. Stir and let the liquid evaporate. It takes approx. 5 minutes.
- In the meantime, you can start cooking your rice in another pan. Heat the other tablespoon of olive oil and another 1/4 cup (50g) of butter. Add the carrot-celery-onion mix and sauté for approximately 3 minutes, or until most of the liquids evaporated.
- Add your risotto rice, stir, and sauté for about 2 minutes until the edges begin to turn translucent. Don’t worry, it looks like you’re cooking pumpkin puree with seeds at the moment but it will turn out delicious.
- Add the remaining ½ cup of white wine to the rice, stir, and let the liquid evaporate. Then add 1-1 ½ ladle(s) of your hot chicken stock and continue cooking by following the steps of the risotto base recipe. Add the chicken stock ladle by ladle, stir, and let the liquid evaporate.
- When your rice is half cooked, add your sautéed chicken liver.
- Continue cooking your rice with the same method. Add 1-1 ½ ladle(s) of your simmering stock, stir, and let most of the liquid evaporate. Repeat until all the stock is used up and your rice is done.
- As a final step, add the grated Parmesan cheese with the last ladle of stock and salt to taste. Only add the salt at the end, as salt hardens the chicken liver. Stir your rice once again and turn off the heat. Add the remaining 2 tbsp of butter and cover it before letting it rest for 2-3 minutes. Once that’s done, you can take off the lid. Stir it once more and serve it piping hot.
I’ve been making risotto regularly for the last several years and I’m always looking for new techniques. This recipe provides some. Thank you!
It’s not bad, but it lacks several vital ingredients that make all the difference; bone marrow and bacon. I have made many chicken liver risottos and eaten some of the best. A touch of chili also adds some zing.
You break this recipe down nicely; thank you. The inclusion of sage is a welcomed touch. We tend to add some mined pork and a bit of pancetta or bacon to ours.
While I certainly add white wine (or vermouth) to the risotto when cooking, I will ask – what specific wine choices would you recommend serving with this?
I have not tried this, but intend to. My family makes a risotto similar to this, but much less ingredients. Rice, chicken both, butter, chicken livers and romano cheese. It’s delicious. Can’t wait to try this recipe.