Chicken Heart Gravy Pasta

Chicken hearts were always a delicacy in our house, I'm not sure if we bought them separately or if they came in the chickens but my mother always offered it to me as a child and it was quite the treat!

I also love gizzards and liver. And I think this recipe could work with liver (maybe add some chopped onions?? Yum! See where we're going with this... )

Now at the supermarkets there are plenty of hearts available and it seems they brought them in for Ramadan in my local halal meat section at the supermarket. I grabbed it because I've been in a nostalgic mood lately.

Cooking chicken hearts in general is simple, just fry them up in a pan with a bit of butter and season with salt and they're prefect, or skewer and grill them with a squeeze of lemon. They're chewy and have a deep rich flavour, if you like dark chicken meat you'll love these.

This pasta dish is something I sort of invented, it just came to mind the other day and so I thought I'd give it a try...

One Pot Chicken Heart gravy Pasta

Ingredients:

- Chicken hearts, sliced open (I removed the fatty top part and reserved them on the side)

- Pasta of your choice (something small that cooks faster is better)

- Garlic

- Butter and a drop of oil

- Salt & Black pepper

- Soy sauce (optional, decrease salt if using)

- Hungarian Smoked Paprika to taste (optional)

- Hot boiled water

- Worcestershire sauce

Preparation:

1 - Begin by washing and drying the hearts, and like any chicken handling clean your hands well and put your utensils and cutting board in the dishwasher or soapy water to get them out of the way.

2 - Reserve those fatty heart tops, most people will not cut this part off but sometimes an artery is in tact and I would rather avoid it to be honest. However there is lots of flavour in it so we're not throwing it out just yet!

3 - Add the butter and oil to the pot and as soon as it's hot and sizzling add your chicken heart tops and do not move them around, let them crisp up. Cover the pot with a splatter guard.

4 - Once your pot is nice and has many brown bits in the bottom remove the pieces and bring the butter back up to a sizzling heat again and add the heart bottoms. Let the same process go on until they are browned on one side adding the smashed garlic clove somewhat towards the end so it doesn't burn. Season with salt.

5- Add your pasta (yes dry! Straight out of the package!)
Begin frying it around and have your kettle boiled.

6- Add your hot water into the pot enough to cover the pasta and season with black pepper and a dash of Worcestershire sauce.
If you have chicken stock on hand by all means use it!! I had some so it went in as well.

7- Once everything is boiling cover and simmer on medium low until the pasta is cooked. You can open it and stir from time to time and add a bit of water if it needs it.

Enjoy!