Sikoti me Kremmydia kai Hilopites--Calf's Liver with Caramelized Onions over Egg Pasta

Want a meal packed with flavor and vitamins that's ready in mere minutes? I sure do and that's why I turned to this dish the other night when trying to put together a healthy meal for my husband and children while simultaneously working on two cake orders.

To be honest, growing up I only enjoyed liver on Holy Saturday, when we'd break the fast held throughout Lent with a meal including fried sweetbreads, fried liver and patsa (tripe soup). As an adult, I still enjoy it on this sacred holiday but also like to include liver in my diet, and my family's for that matter, on other occasions as well.

This dish is a great way to do that and I urge you to try it. The caramelized onions lend a wonderful dimension of flavor to the liver and the wine takes the sauce to another level altogether. I served this over hilopites, a Greek egg pasta, but you can easily serve it over rice or mashed potatoes.

Sikoti me Kremmydia Kai Hilopites--Calf's Liver and Caramelized Onions over Egg Pasta

Makes 4 servings

1 1/4 pound piece calf's liver, rinsed and sliced into strips
2 large onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup sherry or marsala

1/2 pound Hilopites, cooked, drained and tossed with butter

Heat oil in a large skillet, add onions and season with salt. Stir and cook over high heat until softened. Cover skillet, turn heat to medium and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are golden brown, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile season the liver slices with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Add liver to the skillet and saute until browned on both sides. Remove liver and onions to a bowl and keep warm. Set the skillet over high heat and deglaze with the wine. Serve the liver and onions over the hilopites with some sauce spooned on top.

Soutzoukakia Me Hilopitakia (Greek Meatballs and Egg Pasta in Tomato Sauce)

I've mentioned before that I love pasta, but seriously, who doesn't? Carbs schmarbs. Pasta is great and it shouldn't be something anyone purposely avoids eating. Everything is fine in moderation--although I can probably eat a serving of pasta a day. That doesn't mean that I do of course.

Pasta is, however, something I usually make about once a week. My husband loves the basic linguine or fettuccine and he's not too keen on other shapes or forms of pasta. The kids--like their mother--eat anything put in front of them. So--fortunately for us, unfortunately for him--the hubbie is outnumbered. And I'll often make anything from penne, to orechiette, tagliatelle, linguine, orzo, campanelle, cavatelli, fettuccine, farfalle or the versatile Greek egg pasta known as hilopites.

I often use hilopitakia (as the smallest of this egg-based pasta is usually called) with stewed chicken or beef but decided yesterday to serve them with soutzoukakia (Greek meatballs in tomato sauce).

I'm hoping to get a pasta attachment for my KitchenAid standmixer so I can start experimenting with making this versatile pasta myself as I'm pretty sure it makes quite a difference to cook with fresh homemade pasta as opposed to store bought. For now, however, Misko is my favorite source, specifically their line of region-specific pastas and the Hilopitakia Metsovou I used below.

I'm sending this dish straight to Ivy of Kopiaste as she is hosting this week's edition of the yummy Presto Pasta Nights, originally created by Ruth over at Once Upon a Feast. Kali Orexi!

Soutzoukakia me Hilopitakia

Serves 6

1 1/2 pounds ground beef/pork/veal combo

1/4 cup finely chopped parsley

1/4 teaspoon dried mint

1/2 teaspoon paprika

Small onion, grated

1/3 cup breadcrumbs

2 eggs

Salt and pepper, to taste

4 tablespoons olive oil

Small onion, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

1 26.5-oz. box chopped tomatoes

2 teaspoons tomato paste, diluted in 1/2 cup water

1/2 cup chicken broth

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

1/2 teaspoon dried Greek oregano

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 pound Hilopitakia (small square-shaped egg pasta)

In a large bowl combine first 8 ingredients and knead briefly to mix. Cover and refrigerate for about an hour (time permitting).

In a large skillet heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Form the meat mixture into small oblong-shaped portions and brown in skillet. Remove each batch of browned meatballs to a plate and cover to keep warm.

Once all the meatballs have been browned and removed, add remaining two tablespoons of olive oil to the same skillet and saute the chopped onion and garlic until the onion has softened (scraping up all those tasty brown bits). Stir in the crushed red pepper flakes and then add the chopped tomatoes. Bring to boil, add the tomato paste, broth, parsley, oregano salt and pepper and stir. Reduce heat and simmer for about five minutes. Add the meatballs back to the skillet and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes more.

Spoon meatballs and 1/2 to 3/4 of sauce into a platter and keep warm. Add the hilopitakia to the skillet along with some water and cook until tender (add additional water or broth as needed to cook pasta through). Serve with the cooked soutzoukakia and tomato sauce spooned over.