One of my favorite times of the year is artichoke season. When the purple and green globes start making their appearance in the markets in Rome we eat them almost daily. In salads, pasta, risotti and of course just on their own.
One of my favorite dishes though, is coratella con carciofi. I’ve written about this seasonal dish in the past, which combines not only spring artichokes but also the liver, lungs and heart of spring lamb. This is something I make whenever I can find coratella, which I admit isn’t easy. Not all butchers carry it, and since it’s only available for a few short months a year (when the lambs are young) that makes it even harder. And I imagine if it’s hard for me to find coratella here in Rome, it’s almost impossible where you are.
Which is why, today, I’m sharing my back up version: chicken livers with artichokes.
I love chicken livers but had cut down my consumption of them since I had become suspect of where those livers were coming from. I have long since stopped buying chicken at the supermarket, or from any butcher I don’t know very well. The problem was that my organic source was always limited, and almost never had livers.
All that changed with the opening of the Farmer’s Market here in Rome. Not only does my farmer bring in delicious, home grown, organic chickens, but she also always has packs of chicken livers which, evidently, no one else seems to want. When faced with the choice of buying a pack of chicken parts for 18 Euros or a pack of chicken livers for 4 Euros, I’m going to choose the livers every time. Really, she almost gives them to me for free.
I had the idea of combining them with artichokes last week, since the livers I buy are almost like coratella, since they have the hearts attached as well.
Actually, if you want to know the truth, lately I’ve been combining artichokes with just about everything. Because, well, who can resist?
chicken livers and artichokes
Serves 2 to 4
1 pound chicken livers
6 to 8 artichokes
1 medium onion
1 cup white wine
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt, pepper
lemon
Trim the artichokes by removing the tough outer leaves and sharp tips (see here for how to do this). Slice into half inch wedges.
In a pan large enough to hold everything pour the the olive oil and heat to medium heat. Add the onion, salt and pepper and let soften for about 10 minutes, being careful not to brown.
Add the artichokes, stir, and add a half cup water. Stir, cooking, until the artichokes start to become tender, about 10 minutes.
In the meantime trim the chicken livers of any extra fat. You may also need to separate them, if there is a membrane connecting the two halves. If the heart is included, trim this of extra fat and cut in half.
Add the liver and heart to the artichokes, and stir. Cook over medium heat until the liver starts to brown. Add a bit more salt, and the white wine.
Cook until done, adjusting for salt and pepper.
Before serving, squeeze a bit of lemon juice on top and mix.
Although I think of this as a main dish, I think that if you chopped the liver and the artichokes a bit smaller, it would work equally well atop toasted bread as an antipasto.
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Hi Elizabeth, found your site today via your article ’10 Restaurants Rome Locals Won’t Tell You’ on Epicurious. I was searching an ingredient for dinner tonight that was completely unrelated, but we’re visiting Venice, Florence, and Rome in Sept and the article was so intriguing! We’re new to Italy and trying to avoid tourist traps. It was a beautiful article!
Went from the article to your blog and threw out my idea for dinner completely and made your chicken livers with artichokes (heaven!) and paired it with your asparagus topped with sunny side up eggs and I used a parmigiano-regiano shaved super thin on the mandoline. Though I kept wondering about that perfect cow/goat cheese 50/50 you raved about. You were right in that lemon at the end was KEY! Perfect Spring meal! Many thanks! Will absolutely look for your book next year!
So happy that you found me, one way or the other. And very glad to hear the chicken liver and artichokes, as well as the asparagus were a success. I hope to be doing some other pieces for Epicurious on both Florence and Venice, so stay tuned. But in the meantime I’ve written apps for both of those cities, Eat Italy and Eat Venice, available at iTunes.
A saw that! I’ll definitely purchase the apps, it’ll be nice to have some extra guidance along the way!
So let me pick your brain just a bit . . . What should we be be looking for as far as dishes in September? What’s going to be fresh and in season? What do you love that time of year?!
September is still high time for late summer vegetables, so think tomatoes, eggplants and peppers.