Chicken Stew and Pasta

Find it on the menu as Παστιτσάδα - Pastitsada

First of all, you’ll find a lot of variation in Pastitsada. Some recipes call for Chicken, some for beef.

Pastitsada it seems is the Corfu equivalent of a Sunday Roast. It’s a family dish. Something to bring people together around a big pot of tomato and chickeny goodness. Extremely easy to make.

The name comes from the Venetian Pastizzada meaning ‘something messed up.’ Possibly because it doesn’t seem to matter which meat you use, or what carbs you choose to serve it with, however Chicken + Pasta seems to be the preferred option in these health conscious times. Especially if the source chicken is barbecued a bit, and the pasta is nicely buttery.

The basic recipe is as follows…

Roast a boneless chicken joint in some olive oil. Chopped it into lumps.

Separately in a big pan,make a sauce with onions, garlic, crushed cloves, bay leaf, cinnamon, fried in butter and olive oil. Season with salt, black pepper, white wine and vinegar. To which add a can of chopped tomatoes. Cook well.

Place the chicken in a baking dish, and smother it with the sauce and place into the oven to slow cook to allow the sauce to permeate the chicken.

Serve with buttery pasta, heavily black-peppered, and some grated Parmesan cheese.

They don’t seem to be so fussy about the spices … you’ll see Oregano - which goes into everything here - smoked or unsmoked paprika and cumin. Don’t overdo the spices as they are all very strongly flavoured.

Like anything - leave it for a day … everything tastes better after a day.