If you have been craving pasta alla caruso, this classic version delivers everything you love about the original. An opera-singer classic from Sicily — rich with mushrooms, wine and sweet chicken livers. It is simple, honest cooking — the kind of dish Italian home cooks have made for generations, and one you can master on the first try.
Why This Recipe Works
Chicken livers, mixed mushrooms and dry red wine do the heavy lifting here, so every ingredient has a job. Nothing is complicated and nothing is wasted — pasta alla caruso is proof that a handful of good ingredients beats a long shopping list.
A Note on Ingredients
A mix of mushroom shapes gives depth, but one kind works. Slice the livers after searing so they finish silky inside the sauce of pasta alla caruso.
How to Make It, Step by Step
Flour and sear the livers, then set them aside and build the sauce in the same pan — butter, mushrooms, a full cup of red wine scraped from the bottom. Add pureed tomatoes, return the livers in coins, and let everything burble half an hour. Toss with spaghetti and call it pasta alla caruso, just like Enrico would have.
Tips for the Best Results
- Those browned bits from the livers are flavor — scrape every one loose.
- Pureeing the tomatoes gives a slick restaurant texture.
- The 30 minute simmer is what marries liver, wine and mushroom.
Make Ahead and Storage
The sauce keeps 3 days refrigerated and improves overnight.
More Italian Recipes to Try
When you are ready for your next Italian project, browse all of our tested recipes or dig into our cooking guides. A great next step is our Homemade Pasta Dough — and for the history behind the dish, this overview of Pasta alla Caruso is worth a read.
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