This chicken liiver and sage risotto recipe is one of my favourite finds from the Friuli region. I love chicken livers. They are full of iron and B-vitamins. They are extremely cheap. And they taste great. And of course, I love risotto. But this dish is more than the sum of its parts. If you’ve ever searched for simple chicken liver recipes or a classic Italian liver risotto, this one hits the mark.
The real secret to this chicken liver risotto is the addition of sage leaves. The earthy sage tones really compliment the mild gaminess of the chicken livers. But it is the sautéing of the sage (and other herbs) in butter with the onions and garlic at the start that really pulls the flavours of this dish together into a harmonious flavour bomb. This gives the risotto that deep, savoury profile people look for when hunting for Italian chicken liver recipes or a rustic chicken liver recipe with rice.
Chop the chicken liver roughly into small pieces so that it permeates throughout the risotto, but leave some chunkier pieces as a treat too. as always home made chicken stock is always worth the investment, and if you have followed my Easy Chicken Stock recipe, you will hopefully already have a good supply in your freezer. If you’re wondering what to make with chicken livers, this dish is one of the easiest ways to turn basic ingredients into something elegant.
If you like this recipe, make sure you also enjoy my Hungarian Style Chicken Liver recipe. You might also love this if you’re exploring more chicken liver Italian recipes or diving deeper into northern Italian classics from Friuli.
Buon appetito! 🇮🇹
More Friuli Recipes
- Friuli Wild Boar with Polenta – wild boar slow-cooked in the Friulian style and served with soft polenta.
- Frico – Friuli’s iconic crispy cheese and potato pancake.
- Orzo e Fagioli – barley and bean soup, a warming staple from Friuli’s mountain villages.
Chicken Liver and Sage Risotto
Ingredients
- 2 medium onions (finely chopped)
- 2 tbsp flat leaf parsley (finely chopped)
- 4 large sage leaves (finely chopped)
- 500 grams chicken livers (cleaned and roughly chopped)
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 stick celery (very finely chopped)
- 2 cloves garlic (very finely chopped)
- 225 grams carnaroli rice
- 125 ml white wine
- 1 litre chicken stock (hot)
- parmesan cheese (grated)
Instructions
- Heat the stock to a simmer in a pan and set aside to keep warm. It is important not to add cold stock to the risotto as this will impact the rice’s ability to absorb the stock.
- Add butter to a hot pan and when the butter has almost melted add one finely chopped onion and the herbs and sauté until the onion is soft and transluscent.
- Add the chopped chicken livers and sauté until brown on all sides, but still slightly pink in the middle. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Wipe out the pan, then put back on the heat. When hot, heat the extra virgin olive oil then add the remaining onion until it starts to soften and turns transluscent, then add the celery and garlic and sauté for another 6 minutes or until the celery is soft.
- Add the carnaroli rice and stir well for a minute making sure the grains of rice are well coated in the oil.
- Raise the heat then add the wine. The wine should sizzle when added to the hot pan. Cook until the white wine has reduced by at least a third.
- Add a ladle of chicken stock to the risotto and stir continuously until it has been absorbed by the rice. Add another ladle of stock and repeat the process until all the stock has been absorbed and the rice is creamy and soft but with a little bite. About 20 minutes.
- Return the chicken livers to the pan with a generous handful of grated paresan cheese and a large knob of butter and stir for a minute to heat through.
- Serve immediately.
