The first dish I ever cooked myself when I was about eight years old was a panful of chicken livers, and I remember my father telling me to stop picking at them or there’d be nothing left for dinner. The love of every part of the animal comes from my childhood, and livers are the most accessible offal, and the cheapest. The dukkah crust will encourage someone who is not sure about eating livers to give them a try and the pistou adds another temptation to the mix.
Ingredients
- 500 g chicken livers
- 2 free-range eggs
- 0.66 cup (100 g) plain flour
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
- 30 g unsalted butter
- 400 g baby green beans, topped
- ¾ cup (60 g) toasted flaked almonds
Pistou
- 125 g English spinach leaves
- 30 g blanched almonds
- ½ lemon juice
- ½ cup (125 ml) extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon grated parmesan
- Sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper
Dukkah crumb
- 60 g dry sourdough or rye crumbs
- 40 g dukkah
How to Make It
- To make the pistou, place all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until combined but not too fine. Season to taste.
- To make the dukkah crumb, combine all the ingredients in a bowl.
- Drain the chicken livers of any blood if they have come in a cryovac pack. Gently pat dry using paper towel. Cut out any connective tissues that are dominant but try and keep them as whole as possible.
- Whisk the eggs and milk in a bowl, then place the flour and dukkah crumb in two separate bowls. Working with one at a time, dust the livers in flour, then dip in the egg wash allowing the excess to drain before coating evenly in the dukkah crumb.
- Heat the olive oil and butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. When the butter is foaming, add the livers and gently pan-fry until golden on both sides. Drain on paper towel.
- While the livers are cooking, cook the beans in a saucepan of lightly salted boiling water for 3–4 minutes or until just tender but still firm to the bite. Drain and drizzle with a little olive oil.
- To serve, spread the pistou onto a serving dish. Top with the green beans, pan-fried livers and toasted almonds.
