Recipes
Venetian-Style Liver: Onions for a Long Time, Liver for Two Minutes
Fegato alla veneziana is a Venetian classic: a pile of soft, sweet onions and thin strips of liver that cook for just a minute or two. How to remove bitterness, why to salt at the end and what to serve it with.
MYASYA team3 min readupdated
Ingredients
Serves 4 1 h
Liver and onions
- 600 g beef liver
- 700 g white onions (3–4 large)
- 30 g butter + 2 tbsp olive oil
- 100 ml dry white wine
- 1 tsp white wine vinegar
- ½ bunch of parsley
- salt, freshly ground black pepper
- 200 ml milk — optional, for soaking
To serve
- polenta or mashed potatoes
Preparing the liver
Venetians make this dish with calf's liver. Beef liver has a richer flavour and is a little denser, so thin slicing and a short cook matter even more.
Step 1. Slice it half-thawed
Let the liver sit in the fridge until a knife goes in easily but the flesh is still firm. That way the strips come out even and thin.
Step 2. Remove the membrane and ducts
Lift the thin membrane with a knife and peel it off. Cut out large vessels and ducts: heat makes them tough, and the ducts add bitterness.
Step 3. 5 mm strips
5 mm thick and 4–5 cm long — like wide noodles.
Step 4. Optionally, into milk
An hour in milk in the fridge softens the flavour of beef liver. Then pat it thoroughly dry: wet liver doesn't fry, it stews.
The onions are the heart of the dish
There should be more onion than liver, and it must not brown: the goal is a soft, sweet, barely golden mass that almost melts.
Step 1. Thin half-rings
White onions are the mildest and sweetest. Slice as thin as you can.
Step 2. Butter, oil, low heat
In a wide pan melt the butter with the oil, add the onions and a pinch of salt — the salt helps them release their juice faster.
Step 3. 30–40 minutes under a lid
Stir every 5 minutes. If the onions start to colour, add a spoon of water or wine and lower the heat.
Bringing it together in three minutes
Step 1. Onions aside, heat to maximum
Push the onions to the edge or move them to a bowl. The pan should be very hot.
Step 2. Liver in one layer
1–1.5 minutes, tossing. The strips should just lose their pink on the outside and stay tender inside. If there's a lot of liver, fry in two batches.
Step 3. Wine and onions
Return the onions, pour in the wine and let it bubble off for a minute. Add the vinegar and parsley.
Step 4. Salt and pepper — at the end
Salt, pepper, toss — and straight onto the plate.
What to serve it with
In Venice — with white polenta: soft, or grilled in slices. Creamy mashed potatoes work just as well: they soak up the sweet onion sauce. To drink — a light dry white wine, the same one that went into the pan.
Beef liver: orders from 20 kg, price on request.To the catalogue →
