Lamb Liver Risotto with Sage & Marsala

This was our second time cooking risotto and as the first time it was a success! It turned out delicious. I love liver and the combination with fresh sage and the Marsala wine that it is cooked with made this recipe taste wonderful. If you do not have Marsala use red wine, the taste will change but will definitely turn out as good. All you need for a perfect risotto is patience, it takes between 20-30 minutes to cook a good risotto and you have to keep stirring all the way to make sure the rice soaks up all the stock. So do have a go at the recipe. For 4 people you will need...

• 1.5 litres boiling water
• 2 vegetable stock pots (or cubes)
• 300g Arborio rice
• 250g lamb liver, cut into small pieces
• 6 fresh sage leaves
• 1 carrot, finely chopped
• 1 celery stick, finely chopped
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 100ml Marsala wine
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 60g (½ cup/½ stick) butter
• 60g grated Parmigiano Reggiano
• Salt & freshly ground black pepper

How to...

1. Start by preparing the stock. In a large pan dissolve the stock pots or cubes in the boiling water, bring back to the boil and turn off the heat.
2. In an other small pan put 50g of the butter and the sage leaves and heat up until the butter has melted. Add the chopped liver, season with salt & pepper, stir well and cook for about 5 minutes stirring occasionally. 
3. Now add the Marsala to the liver and cook on high heat until all liquid has disappeared. Remove from heat, remove the sage leaves and set aside.
4. In a large heavy based frying pan or pan (I prefer a frying pan because it spreads the heat evenly during cooking), add the olive oil, carrot, onion and celery and cooked covered on low to medium heat until soft, about 10-15 minutes. 
5. Now add the rice turn the heat to medium and toast the rice for a couple of minutes stirring continuously. 
6. Add a cup of the vegetable stock whilst constantly stirring until all stock has been absorbed by the rice, this takes about 2 minutes. 
7. From now on, keep adding the remaining stock ½ cup at a time, always adding the next one when the previous one has been completely absorbed by the rice.
8. After you have used half of the stock, stir in the cooked livers and continue adding the remainder of the stock until all stock has been used. This process took me about 25-30 minutes.
9. After all the stock is absorbed, stir in the grated parmesan and the last 10g of butter. Serve immediately!!

Enjoy!!

R&A