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Now I know that chopped liver is not necessarily appealing to everyone, but I want to assure you that this mock chopped liver will change your mind. It’s a healthy vegetarian dip full of good stuff that is easily made in a food processor. Take out the words chopped liver, replace them with awesome dip and let me know what you think!
Growing up, we ate chopped liver...liver was still something that my grandparents ate regularly. As we got older, one of my mom’s friends started making this dip in lieu of the real thing. Mock chopped liver suddenly became a staple in our refrigerator. It comes out for parties, at the holidays, on a random Wednesday afternoon. It’s one of those things that once you try it, you probably can’t get enough of it.
The hardest part, in all honesty, about this recipe is caramelizing the onions. Once you’ve accomplished that, it’s mostly dump and go. That is, dump the ingredients into a food processor and whir until it’s the right consistency.
The most important thing about this recipe in order to get the flavor right is using LeSeur Peas. There is no substitute in my opinion. You are welcome to try it, but don’t blame me if you don’t like it...here’s your warning fair and square! 🙂
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What makes this taste like real chopped liver?
I’ll be honest, I don’t have the perfect memory of eating real chopped liver. What I do know, is that my parents think that this is pretty close to the real deal, albeit a bit less greasy. What makes mock chopped liver so good is the sauteed onions and the variety of textures the other ingredients. The chopped nuts give the dip a little bit of a grainy texture (which is a good thing here), the eggs and peas help smooth and emulsify the dip, and caramelized onions give it a depth of flavor that is oh so important.
Lastly, a good dash of salt and pepper season the mock chopped liver to taste like the real thing.
How do I make mock chopped liver?
Making chopped liver starts by gathering the ingredients. If you don’t keep hard boiled eggs in the fridge at all times, now it the time to start. Not only do they make a great healthy snack, but they come in handy when you want to make this recipe. You’ll need two.
From the pantry you’ll want to grab the peas (you know I only use LeSeur), the crackers (we’ll get to those in a second) and the walnuts. I’ve only ever used walnuts, but much like a pesto, feel free to experiment with other types of nuts if you’d like.
Let’s talk about the crackers for a minute. The original recipe calls for using Tam Tams. For those of you who haven’t heard of them before they are basically matzo crackers in a hexagon shape. They come in all sorts of flavors, but for this recipe we use the “original” ones. They are made my Manischewitz and can be found in most grocery stores that have even a small kosher section. If you can’t find them, Ritz crackers are an easy substitute. The only caveat is that you’ll want to salt accordingly, since Ritz crackers will be a bit saltier than Tam Tams.
Once you have the ingredients ready to go, you will basically dump it all in a food processor and whir until it's ready to go!
How do I caramelize onions?
I said earlier that this is the hardest part. But it’s actually quite simple, just takes a bit of time. You can easily do this step of the recipe a day or two ahead of time or even make a big batch of caramelized onions way in advance and freeze them in ½ cup portions. Either way, the method is the same.
- Cut your onions into thin slices
- To a saucepan add some olive oil. The amount of oil and size of pan depend on how many onions you are going to make. You don’t want to cover the bottom of the pan with oil, but you don’t have to be skimpy.
- Turn the heat on medium and add your onions. Now, you wait. You want the onions to caramelize low and slow for the best flavor.
- Using a wooden spatula, give the onions a mix every 7-10 minutes making sure the bottom ones aren’t burning (although if some get a little crispy, it’s not a bad thing)
- Keep them on the heat and keep stirring until the onions have reduced to a beautiful brown pile of perfection.
- Enjoy!
Tips and Tricks:
- You can easily freeze you caramelized onions in ice cube trays, in small zip top bags or in small reusable containers. To use them in a recipe, you’ll have to guesstimate a bit, since they will have condensed while freezing.
- Mock chopped liver can easily be made a day or two in advance of when you plan to use it. It’s best served chilled, although I’ve been known to eat it straight out of the food processor.
- Serve with either crunchy snacks or veggies. You can’t go wrong. I like it with wheat crackers, pretzels, bagel crisps and carrots, but you’ll find what you like, i’m sure of it!
Looking for other simple side dishes? Check these out!
📖 Recipe
mock chopped liver - simple vegetarian dip
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 medium onions thinly sliced
- 10 tam tam crackers or 10 ritz crackers
- 1 cup walnuts
- 1 15 oz can LeSeur baby peas drained
- 2 hard boiled eggs peeled
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a medium pan, saute the onions in olive oil over medium high heat
- Be sure to stir frequently until nicely browned and carmelized, set aside to cool down
- In a food processor, process the walnuts and crackers into a fine crumb
- Add the caramelized onions, peas and hard boiled eggs to the food processor and combine until smooth.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste
- Put in airtight container and store in the fridge until ready to serve. Will stay good in fridge for 5 days
- Serve chilled
Notes
Nutrition
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Aviva
I freeze this recipe in small batches and it terrific!
Marni Katz
Great idea!