Ingredients for 5-6 people:600 g pork liver300 g pork caul fat (which is part of the pig’s peritoneum)10 slices pancetta100 g lard2 tbsp dried fennel seeds100 g breadcrumbs salt pepper
In our area you can find fegatelli at the butcher’s, ready-to-cook, but they're easy to prepare at home.
Put the caul fat to soak, in slightly warm water, for about twenty minutes to soften it. Cut the liver into cubes measuring about 5 cm and put them on a plate (with this quantity you will make 15-20 fegatelli). Cut the caul fat into squares that can cover the fegatelli. Roll the fegatelli in salt and pepper mixed with breadcrumbs and fennel. Put half a slice of pancetta around each fegatello and then wrap it in the caul fat, securing everything together with one or two toothpicks. Heat the lard in a heavy-bottomed frying pan over a medium heat; when it begins to melt add the fegatelli and cook them for 15-20 minutes, turning them two or three times. When they are golden brown and crisp, remove from the heat and serve them hot.
Pork fegatelli are a dish that, all over Tuscany, have been used since ancient times; in the past, they were prepared above all during the Christmas festivities. Dishes of this kind were already mentioned in a 14th century cookery book, and the famous poet Pietro Aretino (late 15th century) mentioned them, saying that the Florentines used to “dress” their fegatelli (in pork caul fat).