If you think that eating healthy and tasty takes a long time, there are several Venetian recipes that require less than an hour of preparation and for those who don’t like cooking will certainly be a relief, among these we can find our baccalà, bigoli in sauce, cuttlefish in black or venetian liver.

In Roman times...

As you can imagine this dish is really special, the liver in fact isn’t an ingredient appreciated by everyone but I can assure you that cooked as Venetian’s tradition will fade its seemingly strong flavor. 

The origins of the Venetian liver, locally called figà àea venessiana, date back to Roman times when to recover everything that is edible from the animal, they used to combine this ingredient with figs to cover the smell. Only when the recipe arrived in the hands of the Venetians was placed on the main ingredient the onion, this was really a good idea.

The original Venetian liver

What gives this course a sweet note is the perfect combination between the liver, commonly of veal, and the white onion of Chioggia, a town in Venice known above all for fresh fish. 

The ingredients you need to reproduce this dish are:

  • Veal liver (or pork);
  • Chioggia white onions;
  • Butter;
  • Extra virgin olive oil;
  • Salt and pepper;
  • Vinegar or water;
  • Parsley (optional).

Its preparation is really easy, you have to fry the onion cut into slices with butter and oil and only when it is golden add the vinegar (if you want to use it) or the water and let it stew for 15-20 minutes at low fire. Now add the liver cut into strips and cook over high heat for no more than 5 minutes, then add salt and pepper. Serve the dish still hot with baked potatoes, soft or toasted polenta.

I strongly advise against:

  • Heat the Venetian liver because it would harden not as tasty as it has just been done;
  • Freeze this preparation.