250 g ground beef liver
200 g peeled, uncooked potatoes
½ - 1 tsp salt
dash of white pepper
1 small or medium onion
(1 egg)
50 g melted butter

Peel and finely grate the onion. Finely grate the peeled, raw potatoes into a large bowl. Mix in the ground liver, the grated onion, salt and pepper. Note: the liver must be extremely finely ground.

Add the egg. Liver is rich in protein, and thus the patties formed from this mixture will hold their shape well when cooked, even without the addition of egg. This is why the egg may be omitted from the mixture. Finally add the cooled, melted butter and stir until the mixture is smooth. It will be rather runny.

Heat a frying pan or a pancake pan until hot. Melt some butter in the pan (or in the rounds of the pancake pan) and drop liver mixture in the pan (in the rounds) to form round mounds. Flatten them slightly with a spatula and cook on both sides until set and browned.

If the patties are very thick, you may further cook them by simmering them gently in another pan, covered with lid, until they are thoroughly cooked. They may also be simmered in the oven until done.

Serve the liver patties hot, topped with onion slices slowly browned in butter. You can drizzle the patties with a bit of melted butter. Fresh, sugared lingonberries or lingonberry jam are traditional complements for this and many other Finnish liver dishes.

Recipe source: "Jauhemaksapihvit", Salonen, E. et al. (1975) Ruokavuosi - Ruokia vuodenaikojen mukaan. Helsinki: Otava.