Chicken Livers in Sherry Recipe

Higaditos de Pollo al Jerez

Chicken livers in sherry is a dish that we first tasted when we lived in the mountains north of Madrid. It is a favourite in some of the tapas bars in that area and was always a favourite with Gerry although I am not such a fan. Kidneys are often cooked in the same way and this recipe can be adapted for kidneys if you prefer them. In Andalucia they sometimes replace the sherry with a dry Montilla wine which is very similar.

Cooking Method

Remove all the fat from the chicken livers and then cut them into bite size chunks.

Heat half the oil in a large frying pan and fry the onion and garlic until they are soft – this will take about 10 – 15 minutes. Remove the onion and garlic from the pan and save on a plate.

Add the rest of the oil to the frying pan and heat the oil over a high heat. Once the oil is hot add the chicken livers and keep the heat high to seal the livers and stop any of the juices from escaping. Cook the livers for about 5 or 10 minutes stirring often. Remove the livers and save on a plate.

Return the onion and garlic to the frying pan and sprinkle in the flour. Cook this while stirring constantly. Add the sherry and continue stirring, add about 100ml of water and the tomato puree and stir to mix this through. The texture of the sauce should be quite thick but still a sauce. Some of these quantities can be varied depending on how you like your sauces.

Return the livers to the frying pan, season well with salt and pepper and cook for about 5 or 10 minutes.

You could serve this as a tapa with crusty bread or as a main course with boiled potatoes.

For variations on this you could add a lot less flour or more water to have a runnier sauce, you could miss out the tomato puree altogether or you could miss out the flour and add more tomato. All of these options create lovely dishes.

You could also use lamb’s liver or kidneys as an alternative.