Liver for pies: tasty, juicy, the best step-by-step cooking recipes with photos

Share on social media networks:

To date, liver has not lost its popularity among housewives. It can be used as a topping in a variety of dishes. It is very simple to prepare: the insides of a pig or cow are boiled or fried, then seasonings are added and minced. Giblets are not expensive, but have more useful and valuable properties than meat.

How to prepare liver for pies

Let's start with the fact that liver is not only liver. These are also the kidneys, heart, lungs, trachea. Of course, the most valuable ingredient is the liver. It contains a large amount of useful substances, vitamins and microelements. Lysine, methioline, tryptophan and this is not the whole list of useful substances. Iron, which is necessary for the synthesis of hemoglobin and other blood pigments. Copper indicates anti-inflammatory property. Lysine is needed for the digestibility of proteins and has a beneficial effect on the tendon. Calcium is absorbed and prevents osteoporosis and atherosclerosis. Thiamine is an excellent antioxidant.

First, the selected entrails of the bird or animal must be washed under running water. Often the heart, lungs, and liver are used for baking. It is advisable to boil these offal in a separate container. The salted water in which the lungs are cooked should be drained after boiling so that the liver filling for pies does not become bitter.

When the organs are ready, they are cut into pieces and ground in a food processor, blender or meat grinder. You can immediately add garlic, green onions, boiled carrots, fresh parsley or dill. Minced liver for pies should have a uniform consistency. To prevent the knives of kitchen utensils and appliances from becoming dull, it is better to process the liver after it has cooled.

What is liver - its composition

To make liver, by-products are used, i.e. second-class food items. This allows you to significantly reduce the cost of the final dish compared to regular meat, although the usefulness of the liver will be equal. The main components are the heart, liver, kidneys and lungs.

However, kidneys are added to liver infrequently, since they require lengthy preliminary preparation.

There are no strict requirements for choosing the proportions of ingredients. You can choose the most suitable composition yourself, for example, by mixing the components in equal proportions or choosing the saturation of individual elements with different proportions. It all depends on your personal taste and health status.

For problems with excessive body weight, it is advisable to include the heart and lungs in the composition; in case of anemia, it is advisable to limit yourself to the heart;

For pregnant women and children, the greatest benefit will come from liver with liver, rich in folic acid; the elderly and those recovering from an illness should be more attentive to their health, and therefore it is better for them to choose a recipe with lungs.

Liver pies are not only tasty, but also healthy.

This filling has the following effects on the human body:

strengthening immune defense;
cleansing the blood and restoring the functioning of the circulatory system, heart, blood vessels;
adjustment of both arterial and intracranial pressure;
normalization of the functionality of the nervous system;
preventing brittleness and destruction of hair and nail plates.

How to cook liver at home

First you need to select those by-products that will be used in the preparation of liver. Then they are thoroughly washed and filled with cool water. They need to be allowed to soak for several hours.

After the ingredients have soaked, you need to clean them further. To do this, the trachea, film and other unnecessary parts are removed. At the next stage, all components are cut into pieces. They should be approximately equal in size. If you plan to use the liver, you should first soak it in milk or water.

Take a large pot of water and put it on the fire. Bring the liquid to a boil and add the cooked meat to the pan. Wait until the water boils again and drain it, and rinse the offal pieces thoroughly. Then they are lowered back into the pan, cold water is poured in, the heat is turned on low and the water boils.

During the cooking process, it is necessary to regularly remove the resulting foam. Cooking time: 60 minutes. Half an hour after the start of boiling, the resulting broth can be salted to taste.

How long does it take to cook liver?

First, let’s define what a liver is. These are by-products of domestic animals: liver, kidneys, heart, lungs, udder and stomach. We are talking about cows, pigs and poultry. Before you start cooking liver, you will have to do some manipulations with the ingredients.

Whatever internal organs you have, they must be washed well and all veins and fat removed. The lungs still need to be cut in half and the tubes taken out from the inside.

The preparatory work has been completed. The lungs and kidneys should be soaked in water for several hours, the udder - 5-7 hours. Beef and pork liver are soaked in milk for about an hour, beef kidneys - 2-3 hours. Cook the beef lungs for 20-25 minutes. Cook whole pork lungs for 2.5 hours, cut into small pieces - 1 hour. Boil the beef kidneys for 30 minutes, drain the water, and repeat the procedure again. Cook pork kidneys for 30-40 minutes depending on size. Boil beef heart for 3 hours. Cook the pork heart for 1.5 hours. Boil beef udder for 1 hour. Chicken hearts are cooked for 15 minutes - 1.5 hours, depending on the age of the bird.

All products must be immersed in already boiling salted water. Place bay leaf and black peppercorns in it. We start counting the time from the moment of re-boiling. Be sure to remove the foam, it forms quite abundantly. Leave the lid ajar. The by-products must be cooked whole, so they turn out to be the most juicy and tasty.

It is better not to boil the liver - it turns out dry. Cut into thin strips, if chicken, leave whole, and fry for 10-15 minutes - it’s tastier.

As you can see, all components are prepared for different times. But now you know how much and what to cook. Therefore, you can cook the liver together, just add its parts based on the cooking time one by one. You can combine offal any way you like.

After the liver is cooked. Remove from pan. Cool. Grind in a meat grinder. Add boiled carrots and more onions sautéed in butter. You can also add a little lard. If you see that it is a little dry, then dilute it with the remaining broth and add liquid little by little.

Use as a pate or filling for anything. Prepare the sausage.

Don't underestimate liver. It is in no way inferior to meat in nutritional value, and even superior in vitamin D content. Liver is very useful for children and not so much for older people.

How to cook light pork for pies

Pork innards can be used to make a delicious filling for fried or baked pies. The dish will be hearty, tasty and budget-friendly.

Compound:

light – 1 kg;
chicken eggs – 3 pcs.;
medium-sized onion – 2 pcs.;
butter – 50 grams;
greens (parsley, dill, onion) - a bunch;
pepper and salt - to taste.

Detailed Process:

Rinse the lungs. Fill with water and turn on the gas.
Cook the cut lungs (pieces, cubes) for 1 hour.
Cool and grind the pieces in a meat grinder.
Wash the eggs in warm water and boil for 10 minutes. Don't forget to salt the water first. Then cool the eggs and chop finely.
Peel the onion and chop as desired.
Place butter in a frying pan and place over low heat.
Add onion to melted butter. Fry it over medium heat until golden brown.
Pour the prepared lungs into the onions. Fry them over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to avoid burning.
Chop the washed greens and add to the total mass in the pan.
Salt and pepper the minced meat. Mix everything thoroughly. The filling for fried pies is ready! All you have to do is wait until it cools down, after which you can safely make pies.

Preparation

Prepare offal. Rinse, cut off all excess (if any): large cartilage, fat, blood vessels.

Cut the liver, heart and lungs into large pieces so that they cook faster.

Place in a saucepan, immediately add a couple of bay leaves, allspice and black peppercorns. Fill with cold water - take plenty of water. The lungs should float to the surface.

Place over medium heat and cook for 1.5 hours until the heart is completely cooked. From time to time, do not forget to skim off the foam that rises to the surface. At the end of cooking (about half an hour), add salt to taste.

Cool the liver in the broth. Then remove and run through a meat grinder with a fine grid.

Peel and dice a few onions. Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan and fry the onion over low heat, stirring until it softens and then lightly browns.

Mix with ground liver. Heat for no more than a minute, adjust the amount of salt and pepper to taste. There is no need to fry too much, otherwise the filling may dry out. To make the liver more dense and juicy, you can add a little broth (the broth in which the offal was cooked) or just hot boiled water.

That's all - the filling for pies and pancakes is ready! And finally, one more little tip: if you like the liver filling to be paste-like and not crumble, then beat it with an immersion blender, adding a little broth or boiled water - you get the consistency of a paste. Bon appetit!

For all its usefulness, excessive consumption of liver can also harm the body, especially for older people. People with high cholesterol should not consume a lot of liver.

You should eat liver from healthy animals, so when you buy it, pay attention to the color and overall appearance.

Liver pies are the most delicious dish and at the same time very simple. None of your family members will be left indifferent.

Preparing the dough

It is important to remember that in order to prepare proper liver pies, as in Soviet times, you must use only live yeast to prepare the dough. Before preparing the dough, they are diluted in warm water and placed in a warm place until a “cap” appears. While the yeast is infused, all other ingredients for the dough are mixed. Yeast is added to the resulting mass. The final version of the dough is kneaded.

In order for the dough to be rich and fluffy, it should be properly kneaded during the raising process. It is better if you divide the entire volume of dough into three equal parts and place them in different dishes. As soon as the dough rises, it should be kneaded, shifted several times along and several times across. This is done two or three times. In this case, you will achieve the perfect result, just like in “those” times in canteens.

From the liver, lung and heart

Recipe for filling liver pies and pancakes. Experienced housewives have their own ways of preparing liver filling for homemade pies. The ingredients are usually selected depending on what was on the market today - pork or beef offal and their ratio varies differently. Then the miracle of cooking begins: the giblets are boiled, stewed and fried in butter, and spices and seasonings harmoniously combine all the products into a delicious liver filling. If desired, you can add fresh herbs, boiled eggs, rice or mushrooms.

From the language

The tongue has high taste qualities.

To speed up the filling process, the main ingredient must be boiled and peeled in advance.

What ingredients will you need?

boiled and peeled tongue – 800 g;
onion. A dense medium-weight onion is required - 2 pcs.;
carrot. The product weight should be about 100 g - 1 pc.;
salt. If the tongue was boiled in salted water, then the amount of this ingredient should be reduced - 5-7 g;
crushed pepper – 1 g.

To fry minced meat, you will need approximately 35-45 ml of refined sunflower oil.

Step-by-step cooking process

The boiled tongue should be cut very finely with a knife.
Onions, as well as carrots, must be peeled.
Next, you need to finely chop the onion with a knife and grate the carrots.
Place a high-sided frying pan on the stove with a medium-heat burner.
Pour oil into a frying pan, add carrots and onions. Fry vegetables until softened. It takes about 5 minutes.
Then you need to transfer the sliced tongue into the frying pan, add salt and pepper and continue frying for about another 5 minutes.
Ready minced meat must be cooled before use.

If desired, the filling can be given a more uniform consistency using a blender.

From the kidneys

Liver for pies (preparing the kidney filling is distinguished by the length of the process) according to the recipe described below has a unique taste and texture.

What ingredients will you need?

kidneys It is recommended to use the product from a young animal, as they have a more delicate texture and the unpleasant odor of the product is easier to wash away - 300 g;
onion. You will need medium-sized dense bulbs - 3 pcs.;
tomatoes canned in their own juice without skin – 3 pcs.;
carrot. Choose a medium-sized vegetable – 2 pcs.;
sunflower non-fragrant oil – 30 ml;
real butter – 50 g;
thyme – 5 g;
salt – 2-3 g;
whole milk with a fat content of 3.2% - 200 ml.

To soak the kidneys you will need filtered water, as well as approximately 1 liter of milk.

Step-by-step cooking process

The first step is to rid the kidneys of the unpleasant odor; for this, the product must be placed in a dish and filled with water. It is recommended to soak the ingredient for about 2 hours, and it is necessary to change the water to fresh water every 20-30 minutes.
Then the kidneys need to be cut into slices approximately 2-3 cm in size. When cutting, the ducts and veins in which the unpleasant aroma is concentrated must be removed from the product. Additionally, these kidney elements are difficult to chew even after heat treatment.
After slicing, the offal must be put back into the dish and filled with milk (about 1 liter). The milk should completely cover the kidneys.
Seal the dish with cling film and put it in a cool place for approximately 1 hour. The milk will remove any remaining unpleasant odor.
While soaking the product in milk, you need to peel the carrots and onions.
Next, the peeled vegetables must be cut into medium-sized squares.
Canned tomatoes should be chopped using a blender or meat grinder.
After chopping the vegetables, you need to pour vegetable oil into a frying pan with a double bottom and high walls and add butter.
Place the frying pan on the stove and turn on the burner to heat slightly below medium.
Place the onion in the pan and fry it for approximately 2-3 minutes.
Then you need to add carrots and tomato mass to the onions. Reduce heat on the stove and simmer the contents until the vegetables are ready.
While the vegetables are stewing, you should remove the kidneys from the milk (taking into account that the product has already been soaked in milk for an hour).
Place the kidneys in a colander until the milk drains completely.
Next, you need (when the vegetables become soft) transfer the kidneys to a frying pan, pour in the milk and add thyme.
Continue to simmer the food until the milk from the pan has completely evaporated. About 5 minutes before the end of stewing, the contents of the pan should be salted.
Check kidneys and vegetables for readiness. If the offal is still too hard, you can add about 30 ml more milk and continue the stewing process.

Solyanka

Time: 4 hours.
Number of servings: 6 persons.
Calorie content of the dish: 201 kcal.
Purpose: lunch, dinner, first course.
Cuisine: Russian.
Difficulty: high.

Solyanka is by no means an everyday dish; it’s difficult to call it a budget option. By preparing this soup you can please your family gathered for a festive dinner. The soup turns out thick, rich, and warming. Men especially like the spicy sour-salty taste. The recipe for such a hodgepodge will take pride of place in the cookbook of a housewife who loves to pamper her household with delicacies.

Ingredients:

meat bones – 0.5 kg;
smoked ribs – 0.5 kg;
beef kidneys – 100 g;
beef heart – 100 g;
beef tongue – 100 g;
udder – 50 g;
onions – 2 pcs.;
olives – 100 g;
barrel pickles – 3 pcs.;
cucumber pickle – 100 ml;
capers – 50 g;
tomato paste – 2 tbsp;
olive oil and butter - 30 g each;
lemon - a few slices;
allspice, salt - to taste;
greens – 1 bunch;
sour cream - to taste.

Cooking method:

Soak the kidneys, cut lengthwise, in cold water for at least 3 hours, and cook in clean salted water.
Boil the washed udder, soaked for 2-3 hours in clean water.
Cool the boiled tongue until tender and peel it.
Boil the broth using smoked ribs and meat bones, strain, and separate the meat from the bones.
Cut boiled offal (tongue, udder, heart, kidneys), meat into strips.
Heat a mixture of butter and olive oil in a frying pan, add onion cut into half rings, fry for 1-2 minutes. Add tomato paste, stir, sauté for 7 minutes.
Peel the pickles, remove large seeds, cut into strips, add to the onion with tomato paste, fry for 2 minutes. Add brine and simmer covered over low heat for a quarter of an hour.
Fry meat products in a mixture of olive oil and butter. When they are browned until golden brown, combine with meat broth, onion sauté, capers, olives, allspice. Add salt if necessary, cook for 2-3 minutes over medium heat.
Serve solyanka with a slice of lemon, sour cream, and finely chopped herbs.

Beef liver

Liver for pies (preparing the filling is the first stage of preparing pies, since it must have time to cool before the dough is ready) from the liver is popular due to the high taste and high nutritional value of this offal.

What ingredients will you need?

liver. It is recommended to prepare beef offal – 500 g;
onion. It is necessary to use bulbs with a dense texture - 200 g;
fresh parsley. You only need leaves - 20-30 g;
odorless sunflower oil – 50 ml.

You will also need salt and crushed pepper, the amount of which must be varied when making the filling.

Step-by-step cooking process

The offal must be washed in cool water to remove debris and blood residues.
Then the liver should be cut into layers approximately 1 cm high. When slicing, it is necessary to cut out the remains of the vessels.
Wipe the liver layers with a towel to remove any remaining water.
Next, you need to peel the onion and cut each onion into circles about 1 cm high.
Pour oil into the pan and turn on the stove. The temperature on the burner should be set to medium.
Place the frying pan on the stove and place the onion slices in the oil.
Fry the onion on both sides until browned. When frying, you need to make sure that the circles maintain their integrity.
Place the fried onions on a plate.
Leave the pan on the stove and fry the layers of liver in it one by one. The product must also be fried on both sides until browned.
Place the fried liver layers on a separate plate.
After this, you need to install a meat grinder and install a mesh with small holes on it.
Grind the fried layers of liver, parsley and onion slices through a meat grinder. You need to scroll through the ingredients one by one (liver, onion, parsley, again liver, onion, and so on).
Add salt and pepper to the liver-onion mixture and mix the ingredients.

Thanks to individual frying of the liver and onions, the minced meat is very aromatic and juicy. The filling can be used for pancakes, and pancakes filled with minced meat do not need to be fried.

Liver pancakes

Time: 1 hour.
Number of servings: 6 persons.
Calorie content of the dish: 149 kcal.
Purpose: breakfast, lunch, dinner, children's table.
Cuisine: Russian.
Difficulty: easy.

The recipe for liver pancakes allows the use of any liver: pork, beef, chicken. Pancakes are healthy, they cook very quickly, and thanks to the onions they turn out flavorful and juicy. Children will like this food and will enrich the daily diet of those who do not particularly like liver in its pure form, but suffer from a lack of useful microelements, especially iron.

Ingredients:

beef liver – 600 g;
egg - 1 piece;
wheat flour – 2 tbsp;
onion - 1 piece;
vegetable oil – 50 ml;
salt - to taste.

Cooking method:

Boil the washed beef liver in unsalted water until tender, cool.
Peel the onion, pass through a meat grinder with the liver, beat in the egg, add flour, salt, mix thoroughly.
Place a tablespoon of the mixture into a hot frying pan with vegetable oil.
After frying the pancakes on both sides until cooked, add a little water and simmer covered for 2-3 minutes.

Heart filling recipe

For pies, as well as for pancakes, you can use the filling made from the heart. The advantage of the offal is not only its high nutritional value, but also the delicate texture of the finished minced liver.

What ingredients will you need?

heart. It is advisable to use beef offal - 1-1.2 kg;
onion. You will need dense and large onions - 2 pcs.;
medium-sized carrots – 1 pc.;
boiled egg – 2 pcs.;
real butter – 120-150 g;
vinegar 3 or 4% - 30 ml;
refined sunflower oil – 30 ml;
crushed black pepper – 2 g;
salt – 4-5 g (weight should be adjusted to taste).

Eggs are an optional ingredient in the recipe, but they make the minced meat taste and texture more delicate.

Step-by-step cooking process

Hearts must be cut into large pieces. Remove fat and blood vessels from each piece.
Rinse the cuttings thoroughly in water. It is necessary to wash out almost all the blood remaining in the organ.
Next, you need to put the sliced hearts in an enamel or glass deep dish.
Fill the hearts with water; it should completely cover the product.
Pour vinegar into the water and mix the hearts well in the water-vinegar solution. The ingredient must be soaked for approximately 3 hours.
After the specified time, the sliced hearts must be washed well and transferred to a pan.
Pour water over the offal, it should completely hide the hearts.
Peel the onion, cut it into 2 parts and place in a pan with the chopped hearts.
The carrots must also be peeled, cut into 2-3 parts and also placed in the pan.
Turn on the stove (it is recommended to set the heat to medium).
Place the pan with the contents on the stove and boil the hearts for about 1.5-2 hours. After boiling, it is necessary to remove the foam from the water and reduce the heat. It is necessary to boil the offal with low water bubbling.
While the offal is boiling, you need to peel the remaining onion, chop it and fry it in oil until browned.
Next, when the offal is cooked, it is recommended to cool it in the broth.
After cooling, the hearts must be crushed using a meat grinder. Simultaneously with the offal, you need to scroll through the fried onions.
Then you need to add butter to the minced meat (it should be very soft), salt, about 50 ml of broth (in which the hearts were boiled) and pepper. Mix the products with a blender. If it is absent, you can re-scroll the resulting mass through a meat grinder.
After this, you need to peel the eggs and grate them on a grater with small holes.
Transfer the mixture of grated eggs into the minced meat. Mix the ingredients and check the filling for sufficient salt, broth and pepper.

The carrots that were boiled along with the hearts can also be added to the minced meat by grinding through a meat grinder. The ingredient will add juiciness to the filling.