I’ll be honest I have never been a fan of liver. I was served liver & bacon as a child and used to wolf the bacon and reluctantly eat the liver! However, when I went on a training course to become a certified genetic testing practitioner and learned about how important it is to have the correct nutrients to nurture our DNA, I was determined to find a way to enjoy it.
Scroll down for the recipe, but here’s some snippets as to why liver is so good for your gut…
What’s so great about liver?
Liver deserves its status as a superfood because it is the most nutrient dense part of an animal. It is ideal for those with inflammatory or autoimmune conditions to support gut healing. It is also supportive for your immune system, skin, gut and may help prevent bleeding gums.
Liver fact # 1: Organ meats are between 10-100 times higher in nutrients than corresponding muscle meats.
Liver fact #2: Liver is a good source of vitamin A which is one of the most important
gut-healing vitamins.
Liver fact #3: Liver is rich in B vitamins which are crucial for cognitive & neurological processes plus iron & COQ10 for energy.
How does it help my DNA?
Liver is rich in nucleotides which form the basis of your genes and DNA repair. A nucleotide is
the basic building block of nucleic acids: RNA and DNA.
Nucleotides play a central role in metabolism at a cellular level. They provide the power throughout the cell for the many cellular functions that demand energy (think energy
currency).
This includes:
1. Protein and cell membrane synthesis (think letting good nutrients in and keeping unwanted molecules out of the cell)
2. Cell division (think growth & repair)
3. Cell signalling (think hormones).
4. Important cofactors of enzymatic reactions (enzymes speed up reactions in your body – there are approximately 1300 different enzymes in a human cell).
These nucleotides play a huge role in our body and liver is able to provide these nutrients.
How can I get it my diet without the taste?
Worry not, if you don’t fancy the pate you can try grinding liver in a food processor, then add to bolognaise, chillies, stews or blend it into gravies or sauces. It doesn’t matter if you do this cooked or raw as long as you remember which and cook it through for around 10 minutes.
Should I be worried about it being high in toxins?
This is a common objection to eating liver. Yes, it is true the liver’s job is to eliminate toxins, but you need not worry. Toxins don’t get stored in the liver, but actually in fatty tissues and the nervous system.
How often should I be eating liver?
Shoot for once a week to support your overall health, your DNA, energy levels, immune
support & gut healing.
What type of liver should I buy?
As with all meats, aim for grass-fed and organic if possible.
Anything else I need to know?
Yes! Eating nose-to-tail is ecologically sound, sustainable & very, very cost effective. The
quantity of chicken liver required for this pate costs between 60p and £2.50 depending on
quality.
Chicken Liver Pate Recipe
Makes: 3-4 ramekins for 8-10 people
Prep & cook time: 30 minutes (plus 10 mins cooling time)
Ramekins are great when you want the pate to look nice. They freeze beautifully and the butter top stays immaculate. But for every day, I put into ice cube trays to freeze, then defrost a small amount for one lunch. This way you don’t feel you need to use up the whole ramekin.
Ingredients
3 spring onions
25g butter or vegan butter (for frying)
260g chicken livers
1 tsp garlic (2 cloves)
1 tsp rosemary
2 tbsp dill
1 tbsp lemon juice
½ tsp dry mustard powder
40g butter, softened to add to pate (plus extra for melting on top if putting into ramekins)
Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
Make me!
1. Chop spring onions.
2. Melt butter in a medium frying pan. Add liver & spring onion. Cook for 10 minutes on a low heat, stirring occasionally until the liver is browned.
3. While the liver is cooking, chop the garlic, rosemary & dill and add to a small bowl. Add 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Add the mustard powder and keep to one side.
4. When the liver is browned, add the bowl contents to the pan and cook for a further 2 minutes. Allow to cool (transfer to a plate to cool more quickly).
5. Whizz up in your food processor with softened butter and season to taste.
6. Place in your ramekins or ice cube moulds.
7. Pour extra melted butter over the ramekins to preserve, cover and chill or freeze. This does look nice if you are serving to others. I tend to reserve a bit of fresh dill to pop in the butter top before chilling or freezing.
Suggested Reading: Check out the Grape Jelly Blog if you want a gut-healing recipe for a sweet tooth!
WHAT you eat is important, but the HOW and WHEN to eat is just as crucial for your tummy to thrive. Check out the 3 Steps to Control Your Gut (And Still Eat Your Favourite Food) masterclass to learn why.
Jane Barrett is a registered nutritionist and expert in digestive health helping women &
children with digestive issues take control of their health through food. She offers support
through meal plans, online groups & personalised 1:1 programmes on Zoom.
Grab your FREE eBook 10 Steps to Happy Digestion here.
Yes, nice recipe and excellent to keep you there, in my mind! xxx
I try to stay on your shoulder Christine! Have you tried this recipe yet?
I may be forced to try it. I actually do like liver pate if it’s nicely done, but it really does need to be very smooth!!!
Yes smooth pate is lovely – just make sure you have a good food processor or use a high powered blender such as a Vitamix
This is a fantastic way to get people to eat liver more often. I am a big advocate myself and always struggle to get people to eat it.
I am definitely going to try this one
Thank you
I like a sneaky idea and many of my clients have succeeded with adding an ice cube size to bolognaises or curries, I whiz them up raw and freeze as ice cubes
Yuk, yuk, yuk! Liver has not passed my lips since childhood and I don’t plan on changing that. Some 30 odd years later, I can still remember the taste of Liver. I didn’t realise that processed liver would still pack a decent nutritional punch, however, I don’t eat offal and can still remember the taste and texture of various plates. Curiously, I did used to like Duck pate.
It can be a marmite food – never mind we can’t all like everything. Childhood offal has a lot to answer for!
So funny, we have just discovered liver ‘alla veneziana’ aka with olive oil and onions ? my boys loved it!! And now i feel all chuffed too ? we ate calves liver not chicken’s. Does that matter?
Great news your boys like it. Any liver is fine, same nutrient profile, chicken is milder so hence why I made the recipe with that.
I’m making this next week… not sure my kids would eat liver but they do like pate!
Get it in any way you can, mine have their hidden in bolognaises and gravy as they won’t eat pate.
Thank you Jane especially for helpful tips on disguising liver in dishes (bolognaise being a good one). And giving the nutritional facts – I am not a fan at all of liver, but will source organic and give it a go! Got to be done! Xxx
Good to hear Ann, disguising works really well!
Hi Jane
I’ve never been a fan of liver. Like you, as a child, I was given pigs or lambs liver with a fry-up, or liver and onions and I would always leave the liver. I’ve heard stories about liver going off too and literally ‘shaking’ because it was so full of bacteria. Yuk!
However, this recipe with chicken livers does sound delicious and may tempt me to try it again now that a I have my shiny new Vitamix. Thank you.
It’s worth a try, it is unbelievably good for you! I got over my childhood fear…and you can too!
I’d like to try this but don’t eat dairy. I’m assuming you do t have to put the butter on top or you could use vegan butter? Many thanks!
Yes vegan butter works well, I use the Naturli block