Mar 2010

Pizzeria Mozza’s Chicken Liver Pâté

PIZZERIA MOZZA'S CHICKEN LIVER PATE

Growing up, I always called dibs on the gizzards whenever my mom roasted or fried up chicken for dinner. Unlike the chalky livers and slippery hearts, the gizzards were deliciously chewy and mostly neutral in taste. A quick sear with a sprinkling of salt and pepper made for a side dish that oftentimes surpassed the main course. Although I favored gizzards above all in the giblet sack, sometimes a hunk of liver would mistakenly pass my lips—once offals have been chopped up and sauteed, they start to look a lot a like! While I endured liver on those occasions, I never found it remotely pleasant.

Things started to look up for liver and me on a visit to Pizzeria Mozza last fall. I went on a whim that evening and ordered the much-buzzed-about chicken liver bruschette. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but one bite and I was completely taken. The pate tasted like the liver I loathed as a kid, but the bright and savory notes alongside it provided depth and interest. This pate had soul.

Thanks to Noelle Carter of the Los Angeles Times, I can now whip up Mozza’s unparalleled chicken liver bruschette whenever the mood strikes. “We love the rustic texture of this chicken liver pate, which is coarsely chopped by hand,” wrote Carter. “We also love the way the richness of the liver is complemented by notes of garlic, capers, and pancetta.”

My beloved gizzards had better watch out because chicken livers are definitely gaining ground.

  • 1 pound chicken livers
  • Coarse salt and finely ground pepper
  • 3/4 cup best-quality olive oil, divided, more as needed
  • 2 ounces pancetta, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons brandy or Cognac
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped Italian parsley
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
  • 2 tablespoons capers (preferably salt-packed), rinsed and drained
  • 1 lemon, zest finely grated, and 1 tablespoon juice
  • 16 slices toasted bread

PIZZERIA MOZZA'S CHICKEN LIVER PATE

Clean the livers: Use a small knife to remove the connective veins from the chicken livers and discard the veins. Line a large plate with paper towels. Place the chicken livers on the paper towels and pat them with a wad of paper towels to get out the excess moisture. Season the livers very generously with salt and pepper, gently massaging in the seasoning with your hands.

PIZZERIA MOZZA'S CHICKEN LIVER PATE

In a large saute pan heated over high heat until it is almost smoking, add one-fourth cup olive oil. One by one, add the chicken livers. Adding one at a time prevents the pan from cooling too much, and it ensures you will have room for all of the livers because they shrink immediately when they hit the pan, allowing more to fit. Cook the livers until they’re a deep brown, about 2 minutes on each side.

PIZZERIA MOZZA'S CHICKEN LIVER PATE

Add the pancetta to the pan with the livers, reduce the heat to low, and continue to cook until the pancetta fat is rendered, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until aromatic, about 1 minute.

PIZZERIA MOZZA'S CHICKEN LIVER PATE

Stir in the brandy, shaking the pan to deglaze, and cook the brandy for about 30 seconds. Remove the pan from heat.

PIZZERIA MOZZA'S CHICKEN LIVER PATE

Dump the contents of the pan onto a large cutting board, making sure to get all the flavorful bits from the bottom of the pan. Pile the parsley, shallots, capers and lemon zest on top of the chicken livers and drizzle over it the lemon juice and one-fourth cup oil.

PIZZERIA MOZZA'S CHICKEN LIVER PATE

Chop everything together coarsely with a large knife. Drizzle over another one-fourth cup olive oil and continue to chop, regathering the ingredients into a mound from time to time. Continue to chop until the livers are the consistency of coarse paste, almost pureed but with more texture. Add additional olive oil as needed; the livers should be moist and glistening but not so loose the pate won’t stand up.

PIZZERIA MOZZA'S CHICKEN LIVER PATE

Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate before using. At Mozza, the pate is served as bruschetta over crostini (toasted bread brushed with a little olive oil and rubbed with garlic cloves) and topped with guanciale; they also recommend serving it topped with pancetta or a sprig of parsley.

The pate can be made up to a couple of days in advance; bring to room temperature before serving.

Makes 16 crostini. [For Printable Recipe Click Here]

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18 thoughts on “Pizzeria Mozza’s Chicken Liver Pâté

  1. Mmmm! Sounds delicious, and beautiful presentation, too. Just about the perfect season for it — nothing better than a spring picnic with a little tin of homemade paté along for the ride!

  2. That looks wonderful! – And I was the weird kid who wanted the gizzards, liver, heart and as a family we fought over the neck…yep. I’ve never made liver pate and this looks like a perfect recipe to start with, thank you for sharing! I wonder if you could use red wine instead of brandy/cognac?

  3. You know its strange but growing I never really liked liver except..except when its in the form of “Pate” then I love it,especially spread over sandwich ooo yum!

  4. Hi Gastronomer,

    Nice! I’m like you: I enjoyed Gizzards way more than Liver growing up. 🙂 One other suggestion for enjoying Chicken Liver more is Torihei’s new House-made Chicken Liver Pate. It is *so* good and tastes NOTHING like the usual Liver / Metallic taste associated with it. 🙂

    Let me know if you end up trying it. It’s on their new Seasonal Menu.

  5. Ann @ Healthy Tasty Chow – I think that red wine would be a fine substitution to deglaze the pan and to impart a little something to the pate.

  6. I made this! but I added tequila instead of brandy because its what I had around 🙂 and artichoke pesto in place of the oil in the chopping stage at the end, again, had it around. I can tell you it was truly outrageously good.

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