The Best Ever Liver Pâté (& it’s gluten and dairy free!)

We’re not kidding. This is the best ever liver pate recipe and it’s both gluten and dairy free. Like many of you, the team here at Well Embodied did not grow up eating offal – unlike my mother’s generation. For them, liver was often a first food and morsels of offal were included in many meals prepared at home. For generations before us, liver was a highly prized source of nutrition.

Somehow over the years, reverence for offal fell away. Fortunately it’s been making a renaissance as we remember the immense nutritional density of these food. 

2 Recipes That Made Me a Liver Lover

Once I had learned the incredible nutrition provided by liver, I really wanted to include it in my diet. The truth however, was I didn’t (and generally speaking still don’t) love the taste of liver. Fortunately I had my taste buds swayed by 2 key recipes. The first is Chicken Liver Soup with Crispy Bacon and Watercress. It’s from my book The Complete Gut Health Cookbook which I co-wrote with Chef Pete Evans. The second is this liver pâté recipe. So if you normally turn your nose up at liver, trust me on these – you want to try them. They are both AMAZING!

This recipe includes your choice of either pasture raised nitrate free bacon or smoked organic chicken.  You can make your own smoke chicken if you’re keen – or else we love the organic smoked chicken from Locavore – a regenerative butcher in Byron Bay that delivers throughout NSW, QLD, VIC and into parts of SA and the ACT.   Whether you use bacon or chicken, the smokiness along with the herbs and honey gives the pate such a delicious flavour.  It’s a crowd pleaser! Try it for yourself!

Duck or Chicken Liver Pâté

Ingredients:

• 500g organic chicken or duck liver
• 5-10 cuts of pasture raised nitrate free bacon OR 1 organic smoked chicken breast (regen butchery Locavore do theirs in house, and you can order online – check it out), chopped into roughly 1-2cm square pieces
• 1 large red onion, diced
• 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 4 TBS of Ghee (or coconut oil if particularly dairy sensitive)
• 1 TBS raw local honey
• 200-300ml coconut cream

Herbs and spices:

• 1 tspn freshly cracked black pepper
• 1 tspn ground cumin
• 1 tspn ground coriander seeds
• 1 tspn dried thyme
• 1 tspn good quality salt

Creation:

Prepare the livers by removing the sinews and ensuring any gall bladders are removed.
Sauté the onion, garlic and herbs (except salt) in 2 TBS coconut oil. Once the onion is soft and opaque add the bacon or chicken.

If using bacon, cook the bacon until it starts to go crispy. 

If using the chopped smoked chicken, no need to cook, just add it in now. 

Add the remaining 2 TBS coconut oil, livers, salt & honey.

Cook on medium high heat for 2-3 minutes per side for the livers. Careful not to overcook them as the heat will continue to cook them once they go in the blender. If you’re not sure, cut one open to check and if there is still a lot of blood cook a little longer. If it’s just a little blood then it’s time to transfer to the blender.

Transfer the mix to a powerful high speed blender. Powerful blenders (and preferably with glass or stainless steel container rather than plastic) are ideal as they will blend into a super smooth consistency.  

Add 200mL coconut cream and blend. If it’s too thick and not mixing well you can add the extra 100mL coconut cream.  

Have a taste (yummm!) and season to your liking, adding salt and pepper if you desire.
Pour the mixture into serving jars or ramekins or silicon muffin trays.  Muffin trays are the perfect serving size and can go in the freezer. Once frozen you can pop out a serve an hour before you want to eat it.  Pour the melted coconut oil or ghee on top to seal and add some fresh chopped parsley. 

Pop in the fridge (or freezer) to set.  

Once set you can freeze them easily and get them out as needed and defrost.   

If you want to prepare in bulk just double the recipe and prepare in two separate pans. One pan will likely get over-crowded.

How to serve

Serve with toasted slices of the best ever homemade grain-free bread, on paleo seed crackers, atop slices of cucumber or wrapped in cos lettuce leaves, or crackers like No Grainer are fantastic for pate too. SO delicious!