Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Be sure that the water is salted enough to resemble ocean water.

Meanwhile in a large sauté pan melt the butter over medium heat. Sweat the garlic, red pepper flake, shallot, celery, and pepper until they become translucent and begin to soften.

Turn the heat to high but do not allow the vegetables to take on any color. Add the smoked sausage to the pan to give it a good sear.

Meanwhile, the pasta water should have come to a boil. cook your pasta to the manufacture’s instructions. If using fresh pasta this step will be skipped until later. Dry pasta should take anywhere between 9-12 min to cook to what I call pre-al dente. This is the moment before pasta is toothy. You want to pull the pasta at that stage because it will finish the in the sauce.

Now that you have a good sear on the smoked sausage, add the chopped chicken livers to the pan and allow those to cook for 3-5 min. If using fresh pasta, begin cooking now. Turn the heat back down to medium and add the chicken stock to the pan.

Allow the chicken stock to reduce by half. Add 1/2 cup of the starchy pasta cooking liquid to the pan along with the pre-al dente rigatoni. Continue to cook the contents in the pan over medium heat. Be sure to stir or toss the pan to allow the sauce to coat the noodles. we are looking for a semi dry consistency in the pan.

The noodles should be coated in sauce but there shouldn’t be any “broth” per se. Stir or toss in the herbs. Transfer to serving container and garnish with freshly grated pecorino.