Tajarin con fegatini di pollo is a traditional dish from Piemonte in northern Italy. It is made with thin egg pasta called tajarin and a sauce of finely chopped chicken livers. Cooks gently cook the livers with onion, olive oil, and white wine. In autumn, they often add fresh white truffle from the Langhe on top.
What Is Tajarin?
Tajarin is a type of egg pasta from Piemonte. It is cut into very thin strands, even thinner than tagliatelle. It looks a bit like tagliolini or angel hair pasta. What makes tajarin special is the dough. Cooks use a lot of egg yolks compared to flour. In some traditional recipes, they use up to 40 egg yolks for one kilogram of flour. This gives the pasta a bright yellow color and a soft, delicate texture. Tajarin is closely linked to the Langhe and Monferrato areas of Piemonte.
The Sauce: Fegatini and “Comodino”
The sauce for tajarin con fegatini di pollo uses chicken livers and sometimes other edible parts of the chicken. Today, many people use only chicken livers because they are easier to find. Cooks chop the livers very finely and cook them with onion, garlic, and rosemary. They add white wine and let it cook down.
In the local Piedmontese dialect, the word “comodino” comes from cumudà, which means “well arranged.” The name describes how the sauce sits on top of the tajarin when it is served. Some people prefer to mix the pasta through the sauce before serving.
Traditional Piedmont Pasta Recipe
Written records show that tajarin appeared in cookbooks from Piemonte in the nineteenth century. The rich egg dough reflects the fact that eggs were widely available in rural areas such as the Langhe. Food history and local tradition also connect tajarin with fegatini sauce to Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, and to King Vittorio Emanuele II, both important figures in Piemonte’s history.
Today, tajarin con fegatini di pollo is still a well-known regional dish of Piemonte. You can find it on menus across the Langhe, especially during white truffle season, when cooks serve it with freshly shaved truffle.
Buon appetito! 🇮🇹
Also Read
If you are looking for more classic Piedmont recipes, then you might be interested in these posts:
- Pear and Gorgonzola Risotto – a tasty risotto with Piedmont’s famous Gorgonzola cheese and autumn pears.
- Vitello Tonnato – a cold veal antipasto dish with a tuna and caper dressing.
Or for more chicken liver recipes:
- Tuscan Chicken Liver Ragu – thick parpadelle pasta ribbons in a delicious chicken lier sauce.
- Chicken Liver and Sage Risotto – a delicious risotto of chicken livers with savoury sage for flavour.
- Crostini Neri – A rustic Tuscan pâté of chicken livers flavoured with anchovies and capers traditionally served on toasted crostini.
Tajarin con Fegatini di Pollo
Equipment
- Cast Iron Pan for the chicken liver sauce
- large saucepan for cooking the pasta
- Chopping Board
- Chef Knife
- Spatula
- Tongs
- Microplane or box grater
Ingredients
TAJARIN
- 140 grams 00 flour
- 140 grams semolina
- 2 large eggs
- 4 egg yolks (from large eggs)
CHICKEN LIVER SAUCE
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 500 grams chicken livers (cleaned and roughly chopped)
- 1 onion (very finely chopped)
- 1 clove garlic very finely chopped
- 2 sprigs rosemary (leaves picked and very finely chopped.)
- 75 ml white wine
- 125 ml chicken stock
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 300 grams passata
- salt
- pepper
- parmesan cheese
Instructions
TAJARIN
- Blend the flours and make a well.
- Lightly whish the eggs and egg yolks and add to the well.
- Mix the flour and eggs into a dough, then knead for about 8 minutes until a smooth dough forms. Add a splash of water if the mixture is too dry, or a dusty of flour if too wet.
- Cover the dough ball in cling film and rest in the fridge for at least 30 mins.
- Remove from the fridge, cut it half, and use your pasta machine to roll out 2 long pasta sheets to 1mm.
- Dust well with semolina to avoid sticking.
CHICKEN LIVER SAUCE
- Heat a pan over medium heat then add oil. When hot, brown the chicken livers and hearts, then set aside and wipe out (but dont clean) the pan.
- In the same pan, heat some more extra virgin olive oil, then add the onions with a pinch of salt. When the onions begin to soften (about 1-2 minutes) add the rosemary and stir well. Continue to sweat the onions for 4-5 minutes until soft but not browned, then add the garlic and cook for 1 minute or until the garlic becomes fragrant.
- Add the white wine, then simmer until it has almost reduced. Then add the tomatoes, chicken stock and a pinch of salt and and bring to a simmer.
- Return the browned chicken livers and hearts to the pan, and simmer the sauce gently for about 40 minutes. Check and adjust the seasoning periodically.
- About 15 minutes before the end of cooking, bring a large pan of water to the boil, then salt well and keep at a simmer. When the sauce is almost ready, bring the pan back to the boil, add the tajarin to the boiling water and simmer for 1 minute.
- Drain the tajarin, retaining some pasta water. Add a ladleful for of pasta water to the chicken liver sauce, then add the tajarin to the sauce and stir it through gently.
- Serve immediately with a good sprinkling of parmesan cheese.
