It must have been over a decade ago since I’ve last eaten liver. When I was small, my mum would often prepare this dish. “It’s got a lot of iron, it’s good for you”, she’d usually say to me. I used to have this tendency to anemia, and  liver was some of the best foods to help me fight it. By that time, I wasn’t sooo terribly enthusiastic about eating it, yet I gulped it down somehow. I remember we’d always pair it with polenta and a bowl of green lettuce which would make the dish more palatable.

And only recently I started craving liver again, don’t really know the reason! (I just hope it doesn’t have anything to do with my iron levels, yikes!) I prepared it the way we used to eat it back home – with a little upgrade: home made tomato sauce. The latter gave the whole dish a totally new, fresh touch, it made a truly good lunch that I know I will be making soon again!

Note: after searching on Google a bit, I found out the Italians call this dish “Venetian Liver” and they also serve it with polenta.

Ingredients for 1 person:
150g veal liver, sliced thinly
1 onion or shallot, chopped
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
a bunch of parsley, chopped
olive oil
50g of (instant) polenta
250ml of water (plus a pinch of salt) or stock
home made tomato sauce

1. To make polenta, bring the salted water or stock to boil, reduce the heat and slowly pour in polenta, stirring continuously. Cook for about 8 minutes.
2. Heat a little olive oil in a shallow frying pan and sauté the chopped onion for a minute or so, then add the liver and sauté it for 5 to 7 minutes. It should not become too dry. Finally, season with salt and pepper and transfer to a plate.
3. Serve with polenta and tomato sauce, sprinkled with chopped parsley. Goes well with a bowl of lettuce or other type of salad.

Tasty and healthy for you!