Venetian Calf Liver & Onions (Fegato Alla Veneziana)

Venetian Calf Liver & Onions: It reminds me of the American saying “what am I?! Chopped liver?!”. Now, you can say, “why yes, in fact” and mean it as a high compliment. This dish is elegant and polished and oh-so-nourishing. Sauteeing the liver strips in a flash keeps them tender and the onions mellow the iron. Combined with the polenta, you’ve got a family favorite.

It was September in Venice, and we were trying to enjoy the city on a rainy weekend. It was also chilly, so we ducked out of St. Mark’s Square, to a nearby restaurant recommended by a friend, Osteria Enoteca San Marco. My husband ordered the veal liver and it blew his mind. So we came home to search for the recipe, and surprisingly, not a lot of recipes in English for Venetian-style liver. We were excited to love an authentic gem!

We were there in 2018, and this recipe is as close as our memory allows.

Venetian Calf Liver & Onions

slightly tweaked from MemoriediAngelina.com*

*great notes on the history of the dish and other ways to prepare it

Ingredients
1 pound of sliced onions, 1/4 inch thin
1/2 pound calf liver (or lamb or pork liver, not beef), sliced into strips 1/8 inch thin
3 tbsp butter
1/4 cup white wine
salt and pepper

Recipe summary: Over medium low heat, melt the butter and add the onion slices. Add healthy pinch of salt and stir together, allowing all onions to get coated in butter. Let soften and sweeten over low heat, stir occasionally, about 20 minutes. Try not to brown them. Slice liver into thin strips, 1/8th inch. After 20 minutes, push onions to the side of the pan, and turn heat to medium high. Add liver strips and cook quickly, 3-4 minutes. stir together with the onions and remove from the pan. Reduce heat to medium and add wine, deglazing the browned bits. When wine has reduced to syrupy consistency, pour over liver and onions.

Quick Polenta (Jenna's method)

2 cups boiling chicken broth
3/4 cup corn flour (fine ground polenta)
1 tbsp butter (or more)
parmesan rind (optional but recommended)

Recipe summary: sprinkle polenta a little at a time into gently boiling chicken broth while constantly whisking, to avoid clumping up. Stir in butter and parm rind. Serve.

Using corn flour makes a quick cooking polenta. It should absorb the broth in just a few minutes. Also, find white polenta, if you can, for the fully authentic experience.