If you like liver, you will love Mbonani Daniel Mbombi’s way of cooking it. Easy and delicious, chef Mbombi shares his recipe for a creamy beef liver pasta that will even have liver-loathing peeps licking their lips.
Mbombi’s mouthwatering food has caught the eye of top food brands like Knorr, Tastic, Koo and Jungle Oats.
This rich and creamy liver pasta dish is very simple to make and makes a common staple in every South African household the hero of the dish. High in protein and iron, beef liver is cheap to buy and is essential in African cuisine. If you don’t like liver, try this and you might even learn to like it.
Cooking from the heart
Mbombi’s love for African food has crept into the hearts of many South Africans. Widely known for his traditional dishes, Mbombi has been dubbed the “African cuisine chef” by his followers on social media.
In 2016, he started sharing pictures of his food on Facebook and Instagram. He has become a well-recognised Mzansi chef and brand amplifier (influencer) since then. “Over the past three years, I’ve worked with Tastic, Pasta Grandé, Nestlé and Nola Mayonnaise. It was not really an ambassador thing; I was actually a brand amplifier. For instance, when I make pasta I would use Pasta Grandé and post pictures of the dish.”
The young chef’s taste for food is entwined with his background, because everything he cooks is connected to his Xitsonga culture. “There’s nothing that I know better than me. It’s my roots, it’s my culture and where I come from.”
As a chef the most rewarding thing for Mbombi is to always cook authentically, “because it will show in the end product.”
“The most important thing is that if you cook with love, even if you cook the simplest things, it will always show. You can always taste the love in a dish,” he adds.
ALSO READ: Give Metjie’s tasty pork trotters a try
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Ingredients
- 500g pack spaghetti
- 1kg beef liver, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 lemon, sliced
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- Olive oil to fry
- 1 litre full-cream milk
- 125g unsalted butter
- 1 cup, cake wheat flour
- ½ cup heavy cream (optional)
- ¼ cup dry white wine
- Salt and white or black pepper
- Pinch of nutmeg (optional)
- Grated Parmesan cheese to serve – optional
Instructions
1. Place the liver in a shallow dish. Sprinkle with a generous amount of salt and black pepper, and add the lemon slices. Cover with warm water and set aside.
2. Cook the spaghetti as per the instructions on the pack, taking care not to overcook. Drain.
3. Heat the oil in a griddle pan until smoking hot. Fry your chopped liver in batches for ± 2 minutes.
4. Season with salt and black pepper. Set aside.
5. Heat the milk in a saucepan over medium heat until bubbles begin to appear around the edge. Remove from the heat and keep warm.
6. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the flour and whisk slowly until the mixture is well blended (this is called a roux). Continue to cook and stir for 2 minutes, making sure it does not turn brown.
7. Gradually stir in the hot milk. Cook over medium heat, constantly stirring, until the sauce begins to boil and thicken. Simmer, frequently stirring, over very low heat for 5 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
8. Add the beef liver.
9. Stir in the cream (if using) and the wine. Simmer until heated through. Season with salt and pepper to taste and add a little nutmeg if desired.
10. Stir in the spaghetti and serve.
