🍝 Pastitsada
Pastitsada is a Corfiot Sunday dish of rooster braised slowly in a tomato sauce perfumed with cinnamon, cloves and allspice, then served over thick pasta. The long cooking makes the meat tender and the sauce rich and gently sweet-spiced. It is ladled generously over bucatini or similar pasta.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1.5 kg rooster or chicken, jointed
- 2 onions, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves
- 700 g tomato passata
- 1 cinnamon stick, 4 cloves, 4 allspice berries
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 500 g bucatini or thick pasta
- Salt and pepper
Method
- Brown the rooster pieces in olive oil and set aside.
- Soften the onion and garlic in the same pot.
- Add passata, spices, salt, pepper and enough water to almost cover the meat; return the meat.
- Cover and braise gently for 2–2½ hours (1 hour for chicken) until very tender.
- Cook the pasta, toss with some of the sauce and serve topped with meat and more sauce.
How to make it lighter
- Remove the skin before braising to reduce fat.
- Serve a smaller pasta portion (about 70–80 g dry) with more meat and sauce.
- Add a green salad or steamed greens to make the plate more filling.
History
Pastitsada comes from Corfu, where centuries of Venetian rule left a strong Italian influence on the island's cooking; its name is thought to relate to the Venetian 'pastissada'. It remains a traditional festive and Sunday meal on the island.
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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →