Difficulty level: A little effort
TO DRINK: Radford Dale Freedom Pinot Noir 2008. It is velvety, with soft teasing red fruits and earthy aromas.
Calf's liver Veneziana with baked polenta
BAKED POLENTA 750ml (3 cups) stock 1 garlic clove, crushed 300g instant polenta salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped butter, for greasing 80g Parmesan, freshly grated LIVER 50g butter 50ml olive oil 300g onions, thinly sliced salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste 650g calf’s liver, skinned, sinew removed and cut into slivers (ask your butcher to do this) 100ml veal stock
Instructions
For the baked polenta, preheat the oven to 180ºC.
In a large saucepan, bring the stock and garlic to the boil and slowly stir in the polenta. Cook for about 7 minutes and season well. Remove from the heat and stir in the parsley.
Grease 4 ramekins with the butter and dust with the Parmesan. Pour in the polenta, pressing the surface with a spoon to remove any air pockets. Bake for about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
For the liver, heat the butter and 25ml of the oil in a large, heavy-bottomed frying pan. Add the onions, cover and sweat over low heat for about 20 minutes, stirring often. Remove the lid and cook for a further 10 minutes until golden brown. Remove the onions from the pan and set aside.
Turn the polenta out of the moulds and reheat in the oven for 10 minutes.
In the pan used for the onions, heat the remaining oil to hot. Season the liver and fry on high heat for about 2 minutes on one side. Turn the liver over, add the caramelised onions, veal stock and a little more butter to emulsify and cook until the liver is done and the sauce is warm, about a further 2 – 3 minutes.
Serve the liver and onions with the warm polenta.
