Lamb Liver and Rosemary Pâté

Full of rich flavours and ingredients, this recipe for Lamb Liver and Rosemary Pâté works exquisitely as a starter or accompaniment to cheese on Christmas Day and beyond. Spread thickly on a lightly toasted slice of bread, Yule soon be in festive heaven.

If you’re not someone who would usually sample offal – liver, kidney etc… – pâté is a great way to give it a go for the first time. Packed with butter, cream and rich additions like rosemary and port, the deeper flavours of the liver are somewhat disguised.

Usually, when making a batch of pâté you would seal it with an indulgent layer of butter, keeping it fresh for longer. However, if you expect your dinner guests to scarf every last offaly bite then there’s little reason – other than decadence – to do so. Save yourself some pennies and your festive pounds will look after themselves.

Give this a go today, or even on Christmas morning and you’ll have a quick, simple and frugal starter or cheese-course accompaniment for all your guests. Simply get a knife and tuck in.

To take your liver tasting to the next level check out my recipes for Duck Liver on Toast and Chicken Liver Pâté…

Lamb Liver and Rosemary Pâté

Makes 5-6 small ramekins

Ingredients:

• 350g lamb liver
• 150g butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, mashed
• 3 tbsp port
• a pinch of salt
• a twist of black pepper
• 75ml double cream
• 75ml creme fraiche
• Sprigs of rosemary to decorate
• 50g butter (optional)

Method:

1. Trim your lamb liver. Heat 50g of butter and the olive oil together in a large frying pan, add the liver, garlic, rosemary and port.
2. Cook for 3-4 minutes until the meat is cooked through, but still pink in the middle. Season and transfer the contents of the frying pan into a food blender.
3. To the blender add 100g of butter, the double cream and creme fraiche. Blitz until smooth and pour into 5 or 6 small ramekins.
4. Pop the pâté in the fridge until set and decorate each with a sprig of rosemary. If keeping for more than a couple of days melt the remaining butter and pour over each ramekin.

Cost: Liver in general is an inexpensive ingredient; lamb liver itself can be purchased for as little as £2-3 per kilo. As such, this entire batch of Lamb Liver and Rosemary Pâté should set you back no more than £3.