Tuscan crostini: a poor but tasty recipe

Tuscan croutons are the region's appetizer par excellence, a poor dish but very rich in flavour. Here's how to prepare them with the original recipe.

Tuscan crostini, also called black crostini due to their dark color, are a typical Tuscan appetizer . Like all traditional dishes, it hides humble origins and infinite variations , but the original recipe for Tuscan crostini calls for chicken livers. Some also add the spleen , but in this case the preparation is complicated due to the particular treatment it must undergo before cooking and differs from the traditional one . The same goes for those who add celery and carrot to the sauté.

What gives this dish its characteristic flavor is the vin santo , used instead of the classic white wine to deglaze the livers. On the other hand, one could not have expected otherwise from a Tuscan recipe!

How to prepare Tuscan crostini

The livers in the recipe are only chicken livers. Easy to find, they have a strong flavor that can be softened by adding other cuts of meat, always chicken.

1. First, wash the livers thoroughly under running water, then drain them well and cut them into chunks.
2. In a frying pan, brown the not too finely chopped onion in the oil .
3. When it starts to become transparent , add the meat and the sage and let it brown for a couple of minutes.
4. Deglaze with the wine (as an alternative to vin santo you can use dry white wine) and when the alcohol has evaporated add the broth and continue cooking for 30 minutes . Everything should never dry out excessively.
5. Finally, blend the livers with all their cooking juices together with the butter , anchovies and capers . Spread it on croutons after toasting them in the oven for a few minutes.

Do you love the simplicity of Tuscan cuisine? Try the ribollita !

storage

If you have some liver cream left over, you can put it in the fridge in an airtight jar and keep it for up to 4/5 days . We advise against spreading it on bread and keeping the croutons because the bread would become soggy by absorbing its humidity.

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