Mushroom pasta (with liver and onions)

Around here, we love liver and onions. Love.

We also like leftovers a lot. Obviously, leftovers are good for me because I can make a really quick meal. But they're also a great way to make a completely different meal with less fuss than starting completely from scratch. A roast might come back as a cold sandwich. Or even a stew. Or fajitas. Or a soup.

Sometimes a main dish is re-worked to become an appetizer or a side dish. And sometimes the second-day meal is something we look forward to the most.

Unfortunately, leftover liver and onions aren't the easiest things do deal with. Overcooked liver isn't a good thing - it gets tough - and if you've cooked the liver once, reheating can be risky.

I've made liver pate with cooked liver, and that's fine. But there's only so much pate I want to eat.

So, what can be made from a slightly larger amount of liver and onions? When it's not enough for a full meal, but too much for a nibble?

A little brainstorming led me to pasta. Some time ago, I made a pasta dish that included chicken livers and onions, so I figured I could make my liver and onions work in a similar recipe.

Here's how I made it

It was pretty simple. I cooked some mushroom pasta until nicely al dente and cut the liver into bite-size pieces and set that aside on the counter while I did everything else. I wanted it to come up to

I lobbed a lump of butter into a skillet and cooked it until it started to brown. I added the cooked pasta along with some of the cooking water, which made sort of a sauce. I added salt, pepper, and some ground sage. I added a splash or two of white wine.

I tossed that around to coat the pasta, and then added the liver and onions and gave it one more stir and toss before I served it. The point was to get the liver warmed up without letting it cook any further.

If I was going to do this again, I'd start with some fresh mushrooms and saute those in the butter to add an extra flavor and texture to the dish. A bit of sour cream or creme fraiche to make a creamy sauce would be interesting, too.

Obviously, if you don't like liver to begin with, this won't be your thing. But then again, if you don't like liver, you're never going to have any leftover liver and onions, are you?

I've made similar dishes using leftover steak or roast beef, letting it cook just long enough to take the chill off, without cooking any further.

So tell me, what's YOUR most creative use for leftovers?

The Secrets for Tender Liver and Onions

I grew up in blissful ignorance of the hatred of liver and onions. Oh, I'd heard jokes about people disliking liver, but I thought it was just bad kids on TV who didn't like it. I loved it. I couldn't imagine anyone not liking it.

Fast forward a bunch of years, and I told my then-boyfriend that I was making liver and onions for dinner for us. He gave me an odd little look, but didn't say anything.

That night, he didn't look enthusiatic when dinner got to the table, but he sat down anyway. A guy's got to eat.

He took put some on his plate with a resigned expression on his face. And then he started eating, and his expression changed.

And then he asked me what it was.

"Liver and onions."

"But...but...I can stick a fork in it...I can cut it with a knife! I don't even need a knife! I can cut it with a fork! What is this, really?"

I had no idea what he was going on about. I'd only eaten liver and onions cooked one way. I'd learned it from my mother, and that was how I cooked it that night. It seemed perfectly normal to me, but he was going on like I'd turned hamburger helper into beef wellington.

Later, he confessed that he never liked liver before. The only liver he'd ever eaten was tough and chewy. This was the first time he'd ever had a tender piece of liver, and from that moment on, it became one of his favorite meals.

And of course I joke that he married me just because of that meal of liver and onions.

Once in a while I modify the recipe just a little. Sometimes I cut the liver in small slices, sometimes I add mushrooms or green peppers. This last time, I added some precooked baby potatoes to the onions, just to heat them up. But for the most part, the recipe stays the same. Because I like tender liver.

The secret to tender liver is pretty simple.

First, coat the liver lightly with some flour. You can season the flour if you want, but I generally leave it plain. Some cayenne might be nice, though.

Second, cook it hot and fast. By the time the outside is browned, the inside is cooked. If you're not sure it's cooked, cut it open and peek inside. It should be just cooked through, but not cooked to death. A little pink is fine.

Since liver cooks so fast, there's no way you can start cooking the liver and onions at the same time. It's best to cook the onions first at a lower temperature (with a little salt and pepper) so they soften nicely and brown just a little, the remove them from the pan. Then raise the heat and cook the liver.

You can add the onions back to the pan at the end if they need a little warming, or just let them mingle on your serving plate.