Pastitsada Kerkyras (Traditional Corfu Chicken)

Pastitsada is a Greek dish consisting of pasta topped with meat braised in a spicy tomato based sauce, with its origins in Corfu, where it is still to this day, often eaten as Sunday dinner It is commonly made with cockerel and Greek pasta, similar to Tagliatelle called hilopites which is what you will find in your Greek Cookaway recipe box. The Venetians who occupied the Ionian islands for hundreds of years, inevitably left their mark and became great merchant navy power. They imported many spices from the east. My aromatic spice paste designed especially for the Greek Cookaway contains no fewer than 12 ingredients and gives this very Greek dish a warm, aromatic and very exotic twist. My step grandchildren love it as much as the adults in the family because the dish is fragrant but not spicy hot. Having eaten these for the first time on the school trip to Corfu when I was 16, it is my go to when I want to recapture my youth and the flavours of a Greek Summer. The delicious Cretan Graviera cheese that tops the pasta and the refreshing salad with the citrus notes of the dressing and the sweetness of the fig that accompanies the main dish, make this a meal you will love to have again and again.