Jack Monroe’s chicken liver spaghetti bolognese recipe

Chicken liver is one of those foods I detested throughout my childhood, knowing it only in its school dinner incarnation: cooked until grey and grainy, with flabby onions and barely a smudge of gravy. When I started writing budget recipes on my blog a few years ago, many readers got in touch to extol the virtues of chicken liver. At around 50p for a large dose of protein, I decided to brave it. This is a much-simplified version of a bolognese, but the chicken livers need little else. I’ve learned to avoid school dinner liver by either cooking it for less than a minute, or slowly casseroling it for at least 40 – anything in between seems terrifying.

(Serves 4)

250g chicken livers

100ml milk, to soak

4 fat cloves of garlic, minced

1 large onion, halved and finely sliced

2 tbsp oil or a little butter

Pinch of salt

1 tbsp red or white wine vinegar

400g chopped tomatoes

1 tsp mixed dried herbs (or fresh thyme or oregano)

300g spaghetti

Tip the livers into a colander or sieve and give them a quick blast under the cold tap to clean off any excess blood. Using a small, sharp knife, remove any overly stringy bits and slice fairly thinly. Put them in a bowl, cover with milk and stand to one side to soak. (The milk will be bloody and liver-y afterwards. I wasn’t sure what to do with it, so I warmed it through and gave it to the cat, who devoured it. Any other answers on a postcard.)

Put the garlic and onion in a large, shallow saucepan or frying pan. Add the oil and salt, and cook on a low, slow heat for a few minutes, until starting to soften.

Pour over the vinegar, add the tomatoes and herbs, turn the heat up and bring to the boil. Once boiling, reduce to low again for at least 20 minutes and up to an hour, stirring to stop it from sticking as it thickens. The longer you leave it, the better, thicker and glossier it gets.

When your sauce is almost ready, put a second pan of water on to boil for the spaghetti. Cook according to the packet instructions (usually about 8-10 minutes).

Heat a little oil in a small frying pan. Flash-fry the livers for 20 seconds on each side, then remove from the heat. Tip into the tomato sauce pan and stir through.

Drain the spaghetti and serve the liver bolognese on top.

For more recipe ideas, see agirlcalledjack.com or follow @MsJackMonroeon Twitter.