Pastitsada

Photo © Rob Jones

Working my way through Corfu’s greatest culinary hits at the moment.

Today it’s Pastitsada - Chicken in a tomato, garlic, herb and spiced sauce.

While at the same time reading Stanley Tucci’s book ‘Taste,’ a Christmas present from Anne-Marie. These two things are mildly connected in as much as Pastitsada is clearly another dish that owes its heritage to the Venetians.

I’ve just got to the bit in the book where he is railing against the mismatching of Pasta to Sauces. To say that he is passionate about getting it right would be an understatement.

So … I’m aware I have paired my Pastitsada to a pasta - the name of which I do not know - which I would suggest would incur the wrath of Mr. Tucci.

Only he’s not here. So I may get away with it.

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. Especially if the source chicken is barbecued a bit, and the pasta is nicely buttery.

The basic recipe is as follows…

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

Separately in a big pan, I made 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 I added 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 … I’ve seen Oregano - goes into everything here - smoked or unsmoked paprika and cumin. I would just say, don’t overdo the spices as they are all very strongly flavoured.

At this stage I’d advise leaving it for a day … everything tastes better after a day.

Another Corfu dish to cross off the list.

R