Italian · Tuscany · appetizer

Crostini Neri di Fegatini

Name: Crostini Neri di Fegatini
Prep time: 41 min
Total time: 1 h 1 min
Cuisine: Italian · Tuscany
Ingredients: chicken livers — 350 g; onion — 120 g; celery — 60 g; carrot — 60 g; anchovies — 150 g; capers — 30 g; vin santo — 60 g; unsalted butter — 40 g; extra virgin olive oil — 41 g; sage leaf — 2 g; light chicken broth — 120 g; unsalted tuscan bread — 336 g; salt — 5 g; freshly ground black pepper — 3 g

Crostini Neri di Fegatini reads umami 6.0, salinity 5.0 and richness 4.3 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Italian · Tuscany appetizer, about 1 hr 1 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

Umami & Savory — 7.2 / 10
Sweet & Fruity — 4.8 / 10
Sour & Bright — 1.6 / 10
Bitter & Earthy — 1.4 / 10
Rich & Fat — 4.8 / 10
Aromatic & Spice — 2.8 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Umami 6.0 · Salinity 5.0 · Richness 4.3 · Sweetness 4.1 · Funk & Ferment 4.0 · Marine & Briny 3.5 · Allium 2.5 · Fruity 2.3 · Nutty 1.6 · Herbaceous 1.5 · Sourness 1.5 · Bitterness 1.2 · Warm Spice 1.2 · Earthy 1.2 · Floral 0.7

What's in it (14)

chicken livers — 350 g
onion — 120 g
celery — 60 g
carrot — 60 g
anchovies — 150 g
capers — 30 g
vin santo — 60 g
unsalted butter — 40 g
extra virgin olive oil — 41 g
sage leaf — 2 g
light chicken broth — 120 g
unsalted tuscan bread — 336 g
salt — 5 g
freshly ground black pepper — 3 g

Time & effort: about 1 hr 1 min (41 min active) · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 59.7 kcal, 7.5 g protein, 4.7 g fat, 2 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat · Contains seafood · Contains dairy — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (8 steps)

Soak the trimmed livers in cold water for 20 minutes, then drain and pat them very dry. Any green-stained patch is bile and must be cut away or the whole batch turns bitter.
Sweat the onion, celery and carrot in the olive oil with the sage over medium-low heat for 12 minutes, until soft and sweet with no browning.
Raise the heat, add the livers and cook 5 minutes, turning, until they are browned outside and only just pink in the middle. Season with the salt and pepper.
Pour in the Vin Santo and let it bubble away for 3 minutes. Add the anchovies and capers and stir until the anchovies dissolve, about 2 minutes.
Add the broth and simmer 10 minutes, until the liquid has mostly gone and the mixture is thick and dark.
Chop the mixture on a board with a mezzaluna or pulse it briefly, leaving it coarse: a Florentine crostino has texture, and a smooth mousse is a French pâté wearing the wrong clothes. Beat in the butter while it is still warm, which loosens it and rounds the iron edge of the liver.
Toast the bread slices lightly, 2 minutes a side. Some Florentine cooks dip one face briefly in warm broth instead; do that only if you are serving immediately. Spread the warm liver mixture thickly on each and serve at once, as the first thing that arrives at a Tuscan table.
Substitutions: meat broth can stand in for the light chicken broth.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

Pissaladière — French · Provence
Vietnamese Spring Rolls — Vietnamese
Pinakbet (Braised Mixed Vegetables with Shrimp Paste) — Filipino
Pineapple Fried Rice with Shrimp — Thai
Thit Kho (Caramelized Braised Pork and Eggs) — Vietnamese

Keep reading: what umami, salinity, richness mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.