CHOPPED CHICKEN LIVERS WITH A DIFFERENCE

 

Morteruelo--chopped chicken and livers make a good spread for toasts.

If you’re one of those people who like chopped chicken livers or liver pâté, I’ve got a different sort of recipe for you. Morteruelo is an old country dish from the La Mancha region of Spain. 

Traditionally morteruelo is made with game, such as rabbit, hare, and partridge, plus pork fat and pork liver. Stored in crocks, it was a ready-to-eat food that could be served cold like pâté or heated and spread on toast like rillettes. Add a couple of fried eggs and call it a meal.

I’ve lightened the original recipe, using chicken instead of hare, chicken livers instead of pork liver, olive oil instead of lard. What makes this pâté distinctive is the spicing—cinnamon, cloves, and caraway seeds. 

Serve morteruelo with toasts or bread sticks for dipping. It makes a great sandwich spread. Walnuts are a traditional garnish for the pâté. Pickles, onions, or thinly sliced apples are good accompaniments.

Walnuts are a traditional garnish for morteruelo.

Chicken and Liver Pâté

Morteruelo

Spices, chopped chicken, and mashed livers.

Makes approx. 4 ½ cups of pâté,

1 ¾ pounds chicken legs and thighs

1 onion

2 cloves

2 bay leaves

Sprig of thyme

Salt

1/3 cup olive oil

12 ounces chicken livers cut in pieces

1 clove garlic

1 ½ cups toasted bread crumbs

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon caraway seeds

½ teaspoon crumbled oregano

¼ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

Pinch of cloves

Chopped walnuts to garnish

Toasted baguette to serve

Place the chicken pieces in a soup pot and add 8 to 10 cups of water, the onion stuck with the cloves, bay leaves, thyme, and 2 teaspoons of salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until the chicken is very tender, 1 ½ hours. Skim out the chicken and the onion. Discard cloves, bay, and thyme. Reserve 3 cups of the broth. (Save the rest of the broth for another use.)

When the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove skin and bones and discard them. Coarsely chop the chicken meat and the cooked onion. Place them in a mixing bowl.

Heat the oil in a skillet on medium-high. Sauté the pieces of chicken livers with the garlic until livers lose their pink color. Don’t let them brown. Skim them out of the skillet and place in a food processor. Reserve the oil in the skillet.

Add the bread crumbs to the livers and garlic in the food processor with 1 cup of the reserved chicken broth. Process to make a smooth paste. Scrape it into the bowl with the chicken.

In a small bowl combine the cinnamon, caraway, oregano, pepper, cloves, and 1 teaspoon of salt. Sprinkle the spices over the liver in the bowl. Add 1 cup of reserved chicken broth and stir to combine the chicken, livers, and spices.

Heat the remaining oil in the skillet. Scrape the chicken mixture into the skillet. Cook 15 minutes, stirring frequently. As the pâté mixture begins to thicken, stir in more of the reserved broth as needed to make a mixture of spreading consistency. Spoon the pâté into earthenware bowls or crocks. Store it, covered and refrigerated, up to 1 week.

Serve the pâté hot or room temperature with walnuts scattered on top and accompanied with toasts.

More recipes with liver:

Lamb Liver with Onion Sauce.

Shepherd's Lamb Stew with Liver Gravy (Caldereta).

Sherried Chicken Livers.

Variations on pâté:

Chicken Liver and Partridge Pâté.

Ibérico Pâté of Chicken Livers.

Fish Pâté.

Monkfish Liver Pâté.

Fish Terrine.

Vegetarian Pâté with Seitan.

Vegetable Terrine (Pastel).