Liver is one of the cheapest forms of meat protein you can buy. Unfortunately lots of people really can’t stand it. I guess this is because, when it is overcooked, it is dry and horrible! On the other hand, lightly cooked liver has a very nice texture and works wonderfully with tomatoes and red wine. Each time i have had it cooked ‘rare’ like this, it has been really tasty. It makes an incredibly cheap and healthy main meal.
For yesterday’s dinner, I cut lamb liver into small pieces which I flash fried. I then served them on top of tagliatelle tossed with a sauce made from tomato, onion, garlic and herbs. I added some pan-fried diced courgette too. At roughly £1.10 per portion, it is difficult to get a cheaper more healthy balanced meal.
Here is the breakdown for two portions.
200g liver
1.06
half medium onion
0.11
half tin tomatoes
0.35
garlic, oil and dried herbs
0.15
200g dried pasta
0.13
courgette
0.31
tomato puree
0.05
Total
2.16
To be honest, I was being extravagant when I added the courgette. Leaving it out would make each portion cost less than a pound. Also, if you have any red wine going spare, you could add it to the sauce to make it even better. Here is the full recipe.
Well, this has brought my average spending down quite a bit! Hopefully I’ll find more offal recipes!
Liver is one of the cheapest forms of meat protein you can buy. Unfortunately lots of people really can’t stand it. I guess this is because, when it is overcooked, it is dry and horrible! On the other hand, lightly cooked liver has a very nice texture and works wonderfully with tomatoes and red wine. Each time i have had it cooked ‘rare’ like this, it has been really tasty. It makes an incredibly cheap and healthy main meal.
For yesterday’s dinner, I cut lamb liver into small pieces which I flash fried. I then served them on top of tagliatelle tossed with a sauce made from tomato, onion, garlic and herbs. I added some pan-fried diced courgette too. At roughly £1.10 per portion, it is difficult to get a cheaper more healthy balanced meal.
Here is the breakdown for two portions.
| 200g liver | 1.06 |
| half medium onion | 0.11 |
| half tin tomatoes | 0.35 |
| garlic, oil and dried herbs | 0.15 |
| 200g dried pasta | 0.13 |
| courgette | 0.31 |
| tomato puree | 0.05 |
| Total | 2.16 |
To be honest, I was being extravagant when I added the courgette. Leaving it out would make each portion cost less than a pound. Also, if you have any red wine going spare, you could add it to the sauce to make it even better. Here is the full recipe.
Well, this has brought my average spending down quite a bit! Hopefully I’ll find more offal recipes!
i’m a big fan of liver although it has to be lambs liver for me as pigs liver is sour.
james was also a fan of liver an onions and in his second year of uni he ate just liver, onions and longlife milk, im sure he has told to that story.
one thing that is also cheap is cod roe ( i think thats whats it called) you buy them from the fishmongers at tesco or any other supermarket. they are long slimy things that look like thay would never taste any good. you rinse them out cover in flour or breadcrumbs and fry with garlic and maybe a few herbs. i think they cost under a 1.oo for 100grams.
Comment by kirsten — July 11, 2006 @ 4:55 am
Yes i’ve heard the liver, onions and milk story many, many times!
I remember cod roe from when I was little but I haven’t seen it in supermarkets around here. The last time I spotted some was in the Morrisons in Hatch End, which is a little far for me to go. I’m sure I’ll repeat this experiment when finances are low again, so I might try to get some then.
Comment by ros — July 14, 2006 @ 10:11 am