One of our favorites is a Tuscan classic: crostini.
INGREDIENTS
3 or 4 chicken livers
1 med. red onion
a few tbs. good olive oil
a little prosciutto fat, if you have it
a couple of springs of parsley
a stalk of celery
a carrot
a bottle of white wine (a splash for the recipe; and the rest to sip while you're cooking)
a loaf of bread
PREPARATION:
Mince and sauté white onion in olive oil, adding chopped parsley, celery and carrot and prosciutto fat. Saute a few minutes. Add the livers. Sprinkle with white wine. Let evaporate. When the livers are half done remove them from the pot and mince them, with a few previously steeped dried porcini. Finish cooking the paté over a low flame, moistening it with white wine.
The spread is done when the chicken livers are completely cooked (about 10 minutes). Stir in a tablespoon of grated Parmigiano just before you remove the paté from the fire.
Once the mixture is ready, spread it on thinly-sliced bread. Tuscan bakeries make special crostini loaves shaped in profile like the suits of playing cards. Elegant, but a baguette will work as well, as will squares of quick-fried polenta. Serve as an antipasto.
And don't forget to open a bottle of white wine, like our Pasanella & Figlio Bianco!
