What we need, at this time of year, is food which is rich, food which we can cannily crave, and yet food which is not fattening. And here is the sort of thing I mean. "Giovanna's Spaghetti with Chicken Livers and Lemon" is featured in Elizabeth David's great book, An Omelette And A Glass Of Wine, and it is a magnificent invention. Giovanna was a "young Tuscan girl who cooked it in a country restaurant, now alas vanished, in a remote part of the Chianti district of Tuscany . . . Giovanna was a most original and gifted pasta cook and it was on a day when we had turned up without warning that she first gave us this delicious dish."
And what a masterpiece it is, simple, alluring and utterly satisfying, despite the absence of any lavish ingredients, give or take a few egg yolks and you can cut back on those if you wish. But, like any simple dish, this needs excellent ingredients. (Coppa, by the way, is cured neck end of pork.)
Grate the Parmesan. And use a good, fruity, Italian olive oil. The key to getting the dish perfect is timing. Have the pasta bowl and the plates warmed but not hot. Have the eggs and cheese beaten together. Have all the ingredients ready to fire into the pan so that you can work as fast as possible: you do not want to overcook the chicken livers. Ideally, you drain the pasta as the livers are cooking, then combine all the elements with their natural heat.
Giovanna's Spaghetti with Chicken Livers and Lemon 500 g spaghetti 5 large eggs 3 large chicken livers 10 g raw Italian ham or coppa 4 or 5 cloves of garlic 1 lemon, peel coarsely grated 200 g grated Parmesan or Pecorino 150 g olive oil salt, pepper, nutmeg
Cook the spaghetti al dente, in the Italian way. While it is cooking, prepare the sauce. Put the olive oil in a sautee pan. Clean the chicken livers, cut them in small pieces. Peel the garlic cloves and crush them with salt on a board. (You must use your judgement about the amount of garlic. You may find that one or two small cloves are sufficient. It would be a mistake, however, to leave it out altogether.) Cut the ham in to fine strips.
Warm the olive oil, throw in the chicken livers, add the ham, the garlic, salt, freshly milled pepper, and the coarsely grated lemon peel. The cooking of all these ingredients should take scarcely three minutes. The chicken livers will be spoiled and tasteless if they are overcooked.
Now, in a big bowl beat one whole egg and four yolks. Add the grated cheese and a sprinkling of nutmeg.
When your spaghetti is ready, drain it, turn it in to a big, deep, heated dish.
Quickly, pour the egg and cheese mixture into the sautee pan containing the hot olive oil and chicken livers, garlic and ham. Mix all together very thoroughly but away from the heat. Now amalgamate the sauce with the pasta, turning it over and over, as if you were mixing a salad. The eggs cook in the heat from the pasta. You must have warm, deep plates ready. Your guests must be ready too.
Tepid pasta is as dismal as a fallen souffle. Some 500 g of pasta should be ample for four to five people, 100 g being the usual Italian allowance.