Available to order on Cookaway.com, this iconic dish for the island of Corfu will please young and old alike. Whilst not spicy hot, my award winning spice paste adds great depth of flavour to the sauce that is served with the meat and hilopites. You may use any kind of pasta that you fancy.
Traditionally a whole cockerel, bones and all would be cooked in the sauce with the pasta added towards the end of the cooking time and then served all together.
This way of cooking is neater for plating purposes and is easier for children to eat also without having to negotiate the bones of the bird. You can buy Irini’s Spice Paste from small batch company Northumbrian Pantry
Ingredients (serves 4)
- 4 chicken breasts
- 4 tbsp EVOO
- 1 tbsp Irini’s spice paste
- 1 lemon, juice and zest
- 1 tbsp sea salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
For the sauce
- 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil and extra for drizzling
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 2 large carrots, approx. 250g, peeled and grated
- 90g Irini’s paste
- 200ml dry red wine
- 1 can chopped tomatoes
- 1 tbsp chicken stock powder
- 300ml water
- 2 bay leaves
- Salt
For the pasta
- 300g Hilopites
- 30g sea salt
- 2 Ltr water
To serve:
- 100g Graviera cheese, grated
- A small bunch of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
Method
Preheat the oven to 200 C. Wash and pat dry the chicken breasts. Season with the salt and pepper. Put the 2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil (Evoo) in a large frying pan and bring to a high heat. Add the chicken breasts in the pan, well spaced apart, cook for 2 minutes on each side to brown and transfer to an oven proof dish.
In a small glass, mix the spice paste with the juice and zest of the lemon and 2 tbsp of the olive oil from the pan. Stir and use to drizzle over the chicken breasts. Bake in a top shelf in the oven for 15 minutes. Take out of the oven and leave to rest covered with kitchen foil.
To make the sauce, bring a large sauteing pan to a medium to high heat and add the olive oil and onion. Sweat for three minutes and add the carrot. Continue cooking while stirring for a further 2-3 minutes. Add the spice paste and stir to release all the flavours. Increase the heat and add the wine. As soon as that has evaporated add the chopped tomatoes, stock powder, bay leaves and 300ml water. Bring to the boil, lower the heat, cover the pan and cook for 30 minutes until the sauce has thickened. Adjust seasoning by adding some sea salt if needed. If you like your sauce smooth, use a stick blender to blitz.
To cook the pasta, bring a large saucepan with the water and salt to a soft boil. Add the hilopites, increase the heat to a high boil and cook to your liking, approx. When the hilopites are cooked, drain and return to the pan. Add some of the sauce to flavour and mix well to coat, reserving some to spoon over the chicken.
Slice the chicken breast and place on each plate. Spoon some of the sauce over and drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil. Spoon the hilopites next to the chicken and sprinkle with cheese and the finely chopped parsley.