Cooksister | Food, Travel, Photography

Food, photos & faraway places

  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • About me
    • Contact me
    • Work with me
    • Legal
      • Copyright notice & Disclaimer
      • Disclosure
      • Cookies and Privacy Policy
    • Press and media
    • Cooksister FAQs
  • RECIPES
    • Recipe Index – by course
    • Baking (savoury)
    • Braai/Barbecue
    • Breakfast & brunch
    • Christmas
    • Dessert
    • Drinks
    • Eggs
    • Fish
    • Gluten-free
    • Leftovers
    • Pasta & rice
    • Poultry
    • Pulses
    • Salads
    • Soup
    • South African
    • Starters & light meals
    • Vegan
    • Vegetables
    • Vegetarian
  • RESTAURANTS
    • British Isles restaurants
    • Dubai restaurants
    • France restaurants
    • London restaurants
    • Montenegro restaurants
    • New York restaurants
    • Pop-ups and supperclubs
    • Serbia restaurants
    • Singapore restaurants
    • South Africa restaurants
    • Sweden restaurants
    • Switzerland restaurants
    • USA restaurants
  • TRAVEL
    • All my travel posts
      • Austria
      • Belgium
      • Canada
      • Dubai
      • Cruise ships
      • France
      • Germany
      • Greece
      • Grenada
      • Hong Kong
      • Hotel reviews
      • Italy
      • Israel
      • Jersey
      • Mexico
      • Netherlands
      • Norway
      • Portugal
      • Singapore
      • Ski & snow
      • South Africa
      • Spain
      • Sweden
      • Switzerland
      • UK
      • USA
      • Wales
  • PORTFOLIO
    • Freelance writing portfolio
    • Speaking and teaching
    • Photography portfolio
    • Buy my photos
You are here: Home / Recipes / Pasta & rice / The best pasta sauce in the world… ever!

The best pasta sauce in the world… ever!

by Jeanne Horak on July 30, 2007 14 Comments in Pasta & rice, Waiter, there's something in my...

bacon-liver-pasta-sauce

I am a great believer in the oral storytelling tradition.  As a child who reached schoolgoing age before television arrived on our shores, I grew up with stories – either those read to me by my mom before an afternoon nap, or told to us by my dad when he used to bath me and my brother.  Even our play was often one long elaborate role-play based on some story we had heard, made up or suitably embellished.  Luckily, by the time TV did arrive, this tradition was so ingrained in us that we continued to play the same sort of games, just incorporating the new ideas we had learned from the few TV shows we had in those days. 

So it’s not surprising to find that as I grow older, I remain a fan of the oral tradition.  There are few things that make me feel more at peace with the world than a raucous re-telling of some hackneyed story of past escapades together with either Paul or Bronwyn – usually with each of us finishing the other’s sentences and playing alternately the straight man or the comic relief.  The story of the disastrous dinner table delivery mid-meal.  The account of visiting Crazy Steve at his peculiar house in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.  The story of the camping trip on Robberg and foraging for water.  The tale of the “serpent” in the Chilean outhouse.  Or Paul’s cataclysmic housewarming party when he forgot where he lived.  Scarily, I could carry on!

The point is that after the first couple of re-tellings, the story it is no longer really about the imparting of information – everybody in the room has heard the story a dozen times, and most of us were there when it happened.  It’s more about creating and then reinforcing a bond between people and harks back to our ancestors sitting huddled around a fire after a hard day’s hunting, recounting tales of the Big Woolly Mammoth That Got Away.

When I was living in South Africa and Nick was over here in London, I had the good fortune of living two doors away from my dear friend Bronwyn.  We slipped easily into a routine (including Monday night supper club and Whose Line is it Anyway!) and for 18 months, Bron and her boyfriend and I were inseperable.  One Friday night we decided to go to dinner at an Italian place that had recently opened in our suburb, and about which our friends had been raving.  Little did we know that the evening was about to sail effortlessly into our oral tradition!

We had booked at table at 20h00, and when we got there, we were told to wait as the table was not ready.  This is usually mildly annoying, but it was particularly so in a restaurant that has no bar or waiting area to speak of!  We kind of had to loiter between tables of other diners who looked us suspiciously up and down while we eyed up their food.  Not an auspicious start.   But eventually we were led to a table.  A smoking table.  Which we had specifically asked not to get.  But hey, easy mistake to make, so we called over the waiter and explained the situation.  After some hemming and hawing, we were led to a non-smoking table in the next room.  A table laid with nothing other than a tablecloth, that (by the look of it) had also been used by the previous diners.  But hey – it’s a neighbourhood bistro, so we didn’t complain.  Next, a flustered waiter appeared and gave us a wine list and menu before bustling off in search of cutlery.  This then seemed to occupy him so fully that he neglected to return to take our order.

So we snagged another waiter, who seemed amazed that we had not been served yet and took our order.  Result!  Within a few minutes, we had a bottle of wine on the table.  Unopened.  And without glasses.  Erm, well, yes.  By this time we were starting to see the absurdity of the situation and were giggling our way through what was proving to be an evening of inexplicable service.  Eventually our original waiter returned to take out food order, so we seized the chance and asked him nicely to open our wine for us.  Which he did… and then walked off, leaving us glasslessly staring at our bottle of wine.  We then got even more demanding and called over another waiter to suggest that he might bring us some glasses – and the look he gave us indicated that we had in a few short minutes acquired a reputation as “the difficut table”!  But after scanning the table in confusion for a minute or two, he had to agree that we had nothing to drink out of except the bottle.  So off he went… and minutes later our waiter returned with two glasses!  By this time the three of us were falling about in hopeless hysterics – it was a textbook Fawlty Towers meal.

So when we ordered our meal, we were already expecting the worst – or at least some new and unforeseen weirdness.  But what arrived was, quite simply, gorgeous.  Bron’s other half had a piece of beef fillet that had been done to medium-rare, melt-in-the mouth perfection; Bron had a pasta dish that I now can’t recall but that she loved.  And I got the most delicious pasta sauce that I had ever tasted.  Smoky bacon, earthy chicken livers and a creamy sherry sauce; it was utter perfection and I ate as slowly as I could before mopping up the last morsel of this wonderful sauce.  I swooned.  Bron swooned when she had a taste.  And every time we recounted our eclectic experiences that evening to friends later, we referred to that magical pasta sauce as “The best pasta sauce in the world”.

I hope you have enjoyed sitting around my campfire, and I hope you love this sauce as much as I do.

CHICKEN LIVER, BACON AND SHERRY SAUCE
Baconliverpasta2(serves 4)

Ingredients

250g pack of chicken livers
6-8 rashers of smoked bacon
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 Tbsp of plain flour
100ml milk
125ml cream
a generous glug of medium cream sherry
1/2 tsp dried sage
1/2 tsp dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
pasta of the shape you prefer – enough for 4 people

Method

Boil the pasta in salted water according to package instructions, until al dente.

Chop the onion and crush the garlic.  Heat a little EVOO in a large pan and sautee the onion and garlic until the onion starts to soften.  Meanwhile, chop the bacon rashers into 1cm strips (or you can buy pre-chopped bacon bits) and add to the pan.  Fry until cooked.

Using a slotted spoon, remove the onions, garlic and bacon from the pan and keep warm, but reserve the cooking fat.  Add the chicken livers to the pan (you may want to chop each liver into 3-4 smaller pieces).  Cook until just done but still pink in the middle – watch them carefully as there is nothing worse than an overcooked rubbery chicken liver!

Add the onions and bacon back to the pan, remove from heat and stir in the flour to absorb the cooking fat (use more flour if you have a lot of fat).  Stir in the milk, making sure you get rid of any floury lumps, then add the cream and sherry and return the pan to the heat, stirring continuously to keep the sauce smooth (add more milk/cream as needed).  Season with sage, oregano, black pepper and salt as desired.

Drain the cooked pasta and return it to its pot, then add the sauce to the pot and stir through. Serve in heated bowls, garnished with chives.

OPTIONAL:  you can also add chopped mushrooms when you cook the bacon; and you could spice things up by adding paprika or some dried chile flakes when you cook the livers.

This post is my submission to this month’s Waiter, There’s Something in My… event hosted by Andrew.  The theme this month is sauces and you have until the end of 31 July to get your entires in!

And hey, looky here! Andreea from On Food and Wine got so carried away that she made my sauce the very next day!  Very flattering – thanks Andreea 🙂

More deliciousness for you!

  • Sun-dried tomato and aubergine pasta – the food of loveSun-dried tomato and aubergine pasta – the food of love
  • Smoked salmon penne – quick, easy & indulgentSmoked salmon penne – quick, easy & indulgent
  • One-pan breakfast hash for a lazy weekendOne-pan breakfast hash for a lazy weekend
  • Chickpea and chorizo stewChickpea and chorizo stew

Never miss a Cooksister post

If you enjoyed this post, enter your e-mail address here to receive a FREE e-mail update when a new post appears on Cooksister

I love comments almost as much as I love cheese - so if you can't leave me any cheese, please leave me a comment instead!

« Pasta with ginger prawns, mange tout and sake
USA, Day 7/8: Scallops in Stonington, CT »

Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  1. andreea says

    July 31, 2007 at 3:00 pm

    i’m SO cooking this tonight! talk about coincidence: i do have a pack of chicken livers at home, which need to be cooked today, but i ignored what to do with them except the usual. so this is it. i’ll cook your recipe.(loved the story with the recipe btw.)

    Reply
  2. Deborah Dowd says

    August 1, 2007 at 2:48 am

    I seriously love chicken livers, and this sauce sounds great and I am definitely trying this!

    Reply
  3. Gill says

    August 1, 2007 at 2:53 pm

    This recipe looks absolutely gorgeous, worth breaking my diet for I think!

    Reply
  4. ros says

    August 1, 2007 at 5:50 pm

    Dammit! I forgot about the event. 🙁
    That sauce looks utterly gorgeous. I don’t know why, but I’d never thought of putting liver in a pasta sauce. I love liver and I love pasta so I will definitely be making this… or maybe I can convince Goon to try making it… he’s been improving a lot recently.

    Reply
  5. kitchen hand says

    August 3, 2007 at 2:11 am

    Yes, that looks and sounds stunning. I’ll try it soon.

    Reply
  6. ejm says

    August 9, 2007 at 11:56 pm

    You had me with the photograph! Love the story too!! And how absolutely brilliant that the food was good after all that nonsense!!
    -Elizabeth
    P.S. I neeeeeeeeeed some of that sauce….

    Reply
  7. Susan from Food Blogga says

    August 10, 2007 at 2:59 am

    Oh, I love the look of that rich creamy sauce and the way it clings to the pasta!

    Reply
  8. spittoonextra says

    August 11, 2007 at 8:16 pm

    Waiter, it is time to get Saucy!

    Feeling a little frisky with the sauce, misses? Perhaps a little whisk and turn while the husbands away? (Amazing what Radio 2 can do!). Amazing what people get up to when your back is turned… Lets take, at total random,…

    Reply
  9. Ruth says

    November 9, 2007 at 7:13 pm

    What a fantastic story teller. Thanks for sharing not only a great story that still has me chuckling over, but the scrumptous pasta too.
    Hopefully you share some of your great pastas over at Presto Pasta Night.

    Reply
  10. Julie says

    January 29, 2008 at 10:49 am

    heehee.. I loved this post.

    Reply
  11. Cheryl - U.S. says

    July 9, 2008 at 4:45 am

    Loved your post and tried the dish tonight. Rasher of bacon? Well, I managed without knowing exactly the amounts to use, but I am a “by the seat of my pants” cook anyway. Liked it, but next time I will cut the livers up a bit smaller and perhaps use a bit less of them. My bacon was non too lean either but the way they package bacon these days, you can hardly tell what you’re buying, right?
    Thanks for your post. It was a lovely read.
    Cheryl
    San Francisco, CA USA

    Reply
  12. Hugh Morton says

    August 27, 2011 at 7:20 pm

    Four years later and this recipe keeps giving good results. Just finished it for lunch.
    It’ll be a part of a regular rotation anytime I get a hankering for chicken livers. Thanks for posting.
    Hugh in Dallas.

    Reply
  13. Lientjie says

    October 5, 2011 at 3:42 pm

    This story had me laughing aloud. Making this recipe tonight and I’m sure we are going to love it!

    Reply
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Never miss a Cooksister post!

Get my latest recipes delivered by e-mail!

Search over 500 recipes

Recently on Cooksister

  • Perfect broccoli and Stilton soup [keto, low carb, GF]
  • Masalchi by Atul Kochhar – Indian street food in Wembley
  • Barbecued salmon with blood oranges and capers
  • Roasted Brussels sprouts with feta, pomegranate and pine nuts [GF, V]
  • Love Yourself healthy meal delivery [Review]
  • Antillean
  • Festive roast lamb with pomegranate glaze
  • Rustic blood orange and pistachio galettes

Archives by month

Archives by category

Popular posts

Peppermint Crisp fridge tart - a South African treat
Nigella's Bakewell slices & the Big Bakewell Taste-off
Oxtail and red wine potjie
Gem squash 101: how to find them, how to grow them, how to eat them!
Roosterkoek - a South African braai essential
Beef, broccoli and udon noodle stir fry from "The Japanese Larder" by Luiz Hara

Featured on

Also available on

The wonderful Museum of the Moon installation - a The wonderful Museum of the Moon installation - a 7 metre diameter scale model of the moon suspended in the Painted Hall at the  @oldroyalnavalcollege in Greenwich this week, by @lukejerramartist. A surreal and fabulous sight!
Do you enjoy free art installations? Then you need Do you enjoy free art installations? Then you need to get down to @canarywharflondon between now and Saturday 28 Jan to catch the free Winter Lights 2023 event, back for the seventh year.

My favourites include @lukejerramartist ‘s Floating Earth; Tom Lambert’s Out of the Dark; Fluorescent Firs; Toroid by This is Loop; and the surreal and mesmerising Anima by MEATS - a tunnel filled with hundreds of thin optical fibre lights that change colour and move in the breeze 😍 

Have you been to Winter Lights? What was your favourite?
“When we look down at the Earth from space, we s “When we look down at the Earth from space, we see this amazing, indescribably beautiful planet. It looks like a living, breathing organism. But it also, at the same time, looks extremely fragile.” - International Space Station astronaut Ron Garamond

To experience the “overview effect” (a phenomenon experienced by astronauts viewing the earth from space), head down to Canary Wharf in the London docklands this week where you can see @lukejerramartist ‘s beautiful Floating Earth installation as part of the Winter Lights event. 

This giant 10m diameter installation is created using high resolution NASA images to create a floating scale model of the Earth, lit from within so that it glows from its current home on the Middle Dock, surrounded by the headquarters of international banking and finance corporations.

The artist hopes that viewed in this context, the installation will make visitors and the bankers working in surrounding buildings question how their money in savings and pensions is invested, and whether investments can be greener.

Aside from being a thought provoking piece, it is also mesmerising and surreally beautiful, so make sure you visit the free Winter Lights event before ends on Saturday 28 Jan.
Happy lunar new year! [Invited] To celebrate the Happy lunar new year! 

[Invited] To celebrate the arrival of the Year of the Rabbit, why not head over to @mamachensdumplings currently doing a residence at the @thegantrylondon in #stratford where you can feast on prawn & chive dumplings; pork, Chinese cabbage and shiitake mushroom dumplings; pork & prawn wontons with Mama Chen’s chilli oil; vegetable dumplings; smacked cucumber salad; and spicy noodles coated in garlic and Szechuan pepper oil.

And afterwards, make sure you head up to the @unionsocialoc bar for a cocktail - I loved the Moreish Fashion with bourbon, PX sherry, chestnuts and mandarin orange bitters!
Got leftover Stilton (or any blue cheese) from Chr Got leftover Stilton (or any blue cheese) from Christmas? Turn it into this super simple and super indulgent broccoli and Stilton soup! So easy to make and soooo delicious to eat - and it is low carb and GF. What more could you want?! Click the link in my bio for the full recipe. What’s your favourite soup?
CELEBRATE. So the fireworks are over, the champag CELEBRATE.

So the fireworks are over, the champagne is finished and the leftovers are all eaten. We are one week into 2023 and I have had some time to think about what my intent is for the year. 

In 2022 my brother had a life saving kidney transplant. Since the operation, he has had a Peanuts cartoon as his WhatsApp profile pic, where Charlie Brown and Snoopy are sitting on a pier talking. Charlie says “Some day, we all die Snoopy.” And Snoopy replies: “Yes - but every other day, we will live.”

Waking up in the morning is a gift, every day, and it is so easy to forget this. The last few years have been difficult for so many people and the coming year promises its own challenges. But every day that we don’t die is a day to live, to celebrate life in some small way.

So my intention in 2023 is to celebrate. Celebrate our achievements however small. Celebrate our friends and family. Celebrate small things. Celebrate life.

Did you make any resolutions or goals for 2023? I would love to hear them in the comments! Wishing you all the very best for 2023 🥂
Happy new year, everyone! Here are some scenes fro Happy new year, everyone! Here are some scenes from last night with friends in Deptford. My deconstructed avocado ritz; @twinkleparkstephen ‘s bobitie; Giles’ Ottolenghi tomato salad; and Jean’s clementine trifle - and the London night sky ablaze with fireworks!  How did you spend your evening? 🥂🎇🎆
Merry Christmas to all those celebrating - I hope Merry Christmas to all those celebrating - I hope your day was merry and bright, filled with family, friends and love 🎄🥂. Mine was spent alone at home - my choice and the result of a combination of Covid (not mine!) and rail strikes 🤦‍♀️ but very relaxing and indulgent!
Looking for a stylish and easy Christmas starter y Looking for a stylish and easy Christmas starter you can make ahead? Look no further than my individual smoked salmon terrine! Hot smoked salmon, cream cheese and chives wrapped in cold smoked salmon in a ramekin. Still one of the most popular Christmas recipes in my blog, it looks cheffy but is soooo simple to make - and will save you time and effort on the day! Get the recipe by clicking on the link in my bio.

How is your Christmas meal prep going? Are you entertaining at home or going to friends or family? 🎄🥂🎄🥂🎄
Load More... Follow me on Instagram

Follow Jeanne Horak-Druiff's board Recipes by Cooksister on Pinterest.

Cooksister

The South African Food and Wine Blog Directory

The South African Food and Wine Blog Directory

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Jeanne Horak is a freelance food and travel writer; recipe developer and photographer. South African by birth and Londoner by choice, Jeanne has been writing about food and travel on Cooksister since 2004. She is a popular speaker on food photography and writing has also contributed articles, recipes and photos to a number of online and print publications. Jeanne has also worked with a number of destination marketers to promote their city or region. Please get in touch to work with her Read More…

Latest Recipes

Bowls of broccoli and Stilton soup
Salmon with blood oranges dill and capers
Brussels sprouts with feta and pomegranate
Roast lamb with pomegranate glaze
Blood orange & pistachio galettes
Cauliflower topped steak with melted cheese
Plate of potted smoked salmon with slaw and a glass of champagne
bowls of pistachio pomegranate bircher muesli

SITEMAP

Home

Contact

About me

Recipe Index

Restaurant Index

Copyright & Disclaimer

Cookies & privacy policy




blog counter

© 2004 - 2023 · Jeanne Horak unless otherwise stated - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. You may not reproduce any text, excerpts or images without my prior permission. Site by RTW Labs

Copyright © 2023 · Cooksister on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Cooksister cookie consent
We use cookies to ensure you receive the best experience on our site. If you continue to use this site, you are agreeing to our terms and conditions. Accept
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT