Bacon and Liver Spaghetti Squash with Capers

image from fodmapliving.com

Liver is an absolute superfood, providing vitamin A, all of the B vitamins (including folic acid), CoQ10, and trace elements such as copper, chromium, and zinc. Liver is a wonderful food for regaining health, and is a superb food for pregnant and nursing mothers.


I've been trying to find more ways to get liver into our diets.  This recipe combines bacon, liver, capers, and tomatoes in a delicious way.  The liver flavor is not very pronounced in this dish, but if you are feeding any liver-avoiders you might try reducing to only one chicken liver.

Bacon and Liver Spaghetti Squash with Capers
Serves 3-4 adults
2 chicken livers
Milk kefir or yogurt, for marinating livers
8 oz nitrate-free bacon, chopped
2 small shallots, minced
1 & 1/4 cups diced tomatoes and juice
2Tb capers
1/4 cup cream
1/2 medium spaghetti squash* (already cooked, de-seeded, and removed from skin)
Salt and pepper, to taste
Parmesan cheese, to garnish

1. Marinate livers in kefir (or yogurt) for several hours in the refrigerator.  Drain the livers and pat them dry.  Chop them finely and return them to the refrigerator.
2. Cook chopped bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Stir often, and when the bacon is starting to get crispy, scoop out and reserve about 1 Tb of the bacon grease.  Reduce the heat to medium, add the shallots, and cook for several minutes.  Stir often so the shallots won't burn.
3. Add the diced tomatoes to the skillet, stir, and simmer for a few minutes.  Add the cream and capers, and stir lightly to combine. Then add the spaghetti squash and stir lightly to coat the spaghetti squash with the bacon/sauce mixture.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Let it all cook for a few minutes until the liquid has reduced.  
4. Push the spaghetti squash/bacon mixture to one side of the pan.  Cook the chicken livers in the reserved bacon grease for a minute (or less), then stir them into the spaghetti squash/bacon mixture and turn off heat (don't overcook the liver; it is good if it is still a little pink inside). 
5. Scoop onto plates and sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top.  Serve immediately.

*The spaghetti squash can be cooked simply in advance. I like to cook a whole spaghetti squash at low temperature (200-250 degrees) for several hours.  I cook it in either the toaster oven, solar cooker, or conventional oven.  I know it is done when I can slightly squeeze it (with an oven mitt of course). Once it has cooled, I cut the squash in half, discard the seeds and gooey bits, and then just use a fork to shred the squash into "noodles".  You'll only need half of the squash for this recipe; you could use the other half for an easy grain-free meal with some marinara sauce, ground beef, and cheese.

This post is part of Monday Mania at The Healthy Home Economist, Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade, Pennywise Platter at The Nourishing Gourmet, and Real Food Wednesday with Kelly the Kitchen Kop!