Fegato alla Veneziana: Venetian Liver and Onions

Fegato alla Veneziana is a gloriously simple calves liver dish from Venice (Italy), with gently softened onions, a little Vermouth and butter.

This is a very simple dish to cook; all you need to do is slice the onions before you get started cooking. You have plenty of time to prepare everything else whilst they are cooking, and everything is done and dusted in under 45 minutes.

Italian Calves Liver and Onions

Regular visitors here will know that I am rather fond of cooking and eating offal. If treated well, it is delicious, it's always very frugal, and generally speaking, it's very nutritious.

I've got old school favourites like braised liver and onions, and kidneys on toast, to surprising dishes like kaleji masala (Indian liver curry) and peri peri chicken livers.

Fegato alla Veneziana is a beautifully simple Venetian/Italian fried liver and onions dish.

Aside from some stunning calves liver, the dish is defined by lots of very gently cooked onions.

We are not talking about deeply caramelised onions here, but gently cooked, very "blonde" onions. They bring a very gentle sweetness to the dish whilst retaining just a little acidity.

I choose to use dry Vermouth in my take on this recipe as opposed to the more traditional white wine, or white wine vinegar, mainly because I prefer it.

I also add sage to my recipe; I love the earthy almost peppery flavour with the iron-rich calves liver, it is spectacularly good!

Frequently Asked Questions

I can't find calves liver, can I use anything different?

Calves liver can be tricky to find; I would use lamb liver as a substitution if I were to go in a different direction. This recipe also works remarkably well with chicken livers; it is very different, but very tasty!

I would avoid pig or ox liver; the flavours are a little too bold for the subtlety in this dish, and it also risks being a little tougher.

Do I have to add Vermouth?

No, traditionally this dish would use either white wine or white wine vinegar.

If you are using vinegar, you will only need a splash rather than the 75ml indicated in my recipe.

Can I use dried sage?

Yes, add around half of a teaspoon, but add it with the liver rather than at the final stage.

Can I make this in advance?

No, this recipe does not reheat very well at all; the liver will become tough and very unpleasant to eat.

However, if you want to get ahead on making this dish, you can cook the onions a couple of days in advance. Store them in the fridge in an airtight container.

Then you can pick the recipe up at stage 4, which will leave you 10-15 minutes work.

Serving Suggestions

I've served my take on Italian Fegato alla Veneziana with some cheesy polenta and a sprinkling of fresh parsley in the photos on this page. I use a smoked cheddar and the flavours work exceptionally well together.

A mash of some description also works well; mashed potato is the obvious choice, but I would probably recommend celeriac mash; the flavour is superb with the liver!

The natural sweetness of the onions works exceptionally well with salty flavours. Something like my crispy fried potatoes or straw potatoes would be awesome.

I'm not a huge "fan" of serving risotto as a side dish, but it is particularly good with this recipe.

Something like my pea, broad bean and asparagus risotto or even a classic saffron risotto would be perfect.

Equipment Used

I only name-check brands of equipment if I think that they make a material difference to a recipe. But if you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments section below the recipe.

• Hob/Stovetop.
• 28cm or 11" frying pan (with a lid).
• Stirring and serving spoons.
• Chopping board.
• Kicthen knife.
• A combination of weighing scales and measuring spoons.