How to Make Italian Rice and Chicken Livers

This is an old Italian family recipe that has never been written down until now. If you love chicken livers, lots of garlic, parmesan cheese and rice, you’ll love this recipe. We have a family tradition at Thanksgiving; we’d all gather at my mother’s house the night before Thanksgiving and start cooking. The first thing we’d cook was our traditional Italian rice dish. We’d make it first because we couldn’t wait to eat it and would eat it the whole time we were cooking. We always put our turkey in the oven the night before and would stuff it with the rice dish. Some people think or have heard that it isn’t good to stuff your turkey, but really it is ok to do so. I’ll leave that decision up to you. To me, there is nothing like waking up on Thanksgiving morning and smelling the aroma of the turkey flowing through the entire house. This recipe does take some time to make, but it is totally worth the wait!

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Large Deep Skillet
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Garlic Salt and Garlic Powder
• 8 Large Eggs
• 1 Container of Raw Chicken Livers
• White Rice (not Minute Rice)
• Parmesan Cheese

1. 
    
   White Rice

   Clean your rice by pouring it into a large bowl. Add cold water and rub the rice with your fingers to remove the excess starch. At first the water will look cloudy. Using your hand to hold the rice in the bowl, drain the water. Do this about 4 times until the water looks semi-clear. Let the rice rest in the water for about 15 minutes before cooking.
   
   Cook 4 cups of white rice. Don’t use Minute Rice because it won’t come out right. Just follow the directions on the package for cooking rice.

2. 
    
   Raw Chicken Livers

   Rinse your chicken livers in the container they came in by letting the cold water over flow. Be sure to hold your hand over the livers so they don’t fall out. Do this a few times. Drain. Then add cold water and about 1 tablespoon of salt. Let sit for 10 minutes, then drain the water out of the container. Using a chopping board, cut the raw livers into tiny pieces and put in a bowl. Set aside.

3. 
    
   Large Skillet

   Pour enough olive oil in your skillet to just cover the bottom of the pan. Put your heat on medium. Add chicken livers and sprinkle with a half teaspoon of garlic salt and continue cooking until the livers are completely cooked but not fried. You want your livers to be soft. Stir continuously to keep them from frying. Remove from pan and set aside.

4. 
    
   Extra Virgin Olive Oil

   Pour enough olive oil in the same skillet to cover the bottom and add the rice. Be sure to allow enough room in the pan to add the rest of your ingredients (about half way; you can always add more rice as you go). You will probably have some rice left over depending on the size of your skillet.

5. 
    
   Large Eggs

   On medium-low heat, add one egg at a time to the rice. Stirring constantly so the eggs don’t stick together. You will need to keep adding small amounts of olive oil (a dribble) as you cook to keep the eggs from sticking to the bottom of the pan. The rice will absorb the eggs.

6. 
    
   Garlic Salt and Garlic Powder

   Reduce heat to low. Add 1 tablespoon of garlic salt and 2 tablespoons of garlic powder and mix well.

7. When the rice starts to fall apart and the eggs are thoroughly cooked, it’s time to add the cooked livers and mix well. Be sure to scrap the bottom of the pan to keep it from sticking. Add more olive oil as needed.

8. 
    
   Parmsean Cheese

   Add 1 cup of parmesan cheese and mix well. Remove from heat. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and mix well. You can add as much garlic and cheese as you like. I add a lot of garlic.

Tips & Warnings

• This will last in your refrigerator for about 3 days. You can also freeze it for about a month. Just pop it in your microwave to heat.

[deestew]

on 12/7/2008 This sounds totally yummy! I've got to try this one.

[ptb49er]

on 11/13/2008 Love this one...I am bookmarking! Thanks :)