Crostini di fegatini (Chicken liver crostini)

These recipes are compliments of Costanza Belloni-Filippe of Villa Il Paradisino, Florence, Italy

Preparation and cooking time: 1 hr

Ingredients for 6 servings

300gm (.75lbs) chicken/duck or rabbit livers

2 big red onions

5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp capers in vinegar

2 cloves garlic

2 anchovy fillets

3 sage leaves

2 bay leaves

1/3 cup Marsala wine or cognac

500gm (1 lb) of country bread (cut about 1 cm 1/2 inch thick)

salt

Clean and cut the onion into rings. Clean, wash and chop the livers. In a sauce pan saute the livers and the onions with the olive oil, the bay leaves and the sage, until they are very brown. They need to start sticking (about 15 minutes). Add the garlic and the wine and cook for another 20 minutes, stirring continuously; they should cook without adding wate4r so reduce the heat if they dry out too much.

Remove from the heat and put the livers into an electric mixer, together with capers, anchovies, and chop until very fine. At the end, if you like more liquid add 2 tbsp more of olive oil, or a little bit of marsala, or a tbsp of milted butter in a little bit of water.

Slice the bread and spread some of the mixture on each slice.