🇮🇹 Italian · Main Dish
🧅 Fegato alla Veneziana
Fegato alla Veneziana
Venice's classic liver and onions, thin slices of calf liver quickly sauteed with an abundance of sweet, slow-cooked onions, traditionally served over soft polenta.
The key to this Venetian classic lies almost entirely in the onions, cooked low and slow until they become meltingly sweet, providing the perfect base for the liver, which is cooked only very briefly to keep it tender rather than tough.
Ingredients
Equipment: Large skillet
- 600 g (1.3 lb) calf liver, thinly sliced
- 800 g (1.75 lb) yellow onions, thinly sliced
- 80 ml (1/3 cup) extra virgin olive oil
- 30 g (2 tbsp) unsalted butter
- 100 ml (scant 1/2 cup) dry white wine
- Fresh parsley, chopped
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Soft polenta, for serving
Method
- Warm half the olive oil in a large skillet and add the sliced onions with a pinch of salt.
- Cook the onions over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 30-35 minutes until completely soft and sweet, without browning or crisping.
- Push the onions to one side of the pan and increase the heat to medium-high.
- Add the remaining oil and butter, and quickly sear the liver slices for just 1-2 minutes per side - they should still be slightly pink inside.
- Pour in the wine and let it deglaze the pan briefly, combining with the onions.
- Toss everything together, season with salt and pepper, and finish with fresh parsley.
- Serve immediately over soft polenta.
Chef Tips
- The onions must cook low and slow until truly sweet - this is the foundation the entire dish is built on.
- Liver cooks very quickly and toughens if overdone - a brief, hot sear is all it needs.
- Slicing the liver thinly helps it cook evenly in the short time it is in the pan.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Overcooking the liver, which turns it tough and gray rather than tender and just cooked through.
- Rushing the onions over high heat, missing their essential sweet, melted quality.
- Skipping the polenta, which is the traditional and ideal base for soaking up the pan juices.
Nutrition (per serving)
Health Benefits
- Liver is an excellent source of iron, vitamin A, and vitamin B12.
Cultural Note
Fegato alla Veneziana is one of Venice's most iconic dishes, a fixture of the city's traditional trattorie for generations.
Storage & Serving
Storage: Best eaten fresh; liver toughens considerably upon reheating.
Reheating: Not recommended; best enjoyed immediately after cooking.
Serve with: Soft polenta, A light red wine from Veneto