Kirkyra nights 1 - Cor food

Artichokes. Rabbit. Very old cockerel. The food here has been nothing if not varied.

The fact that we are staying in a completely self-catering villa, and that all of the local tavernas are still being sprung clean from the ravages of winter, is something of a double-edged sword. Though in truth, the challenge presented is one I enjoy probably above all others. Except driving fast cars. And the other thing, of course…

Back to cooking. Following our raid on the the local petrol station, we now have some basic supplies. The challenge tonight is to turn them into something approaching a palatable supper. Better Half had been exploring, came back armed with bunches of wild sage, rosemary and fennel. The fridge yielded up onions, a pepper or two, and a hand of local sausages. This sounded like a plan.

[b]Kirkyrian Sausage Stifado with wild herbs and pasta[/b]

Sausages – as many and as coarse/chunky as you can find
Onion – one large or two small
Peppers – ripe or unripe, but definitely local and misshapen
Tomato – big, fat, ripe, juicy ones straight from the vine
Herbs – whatever is available growing in the local hedgerow. Or packet.
Red wine – the chewier the better
Olive oil – extra virgin from the roadside stall in Makrades. Or Spinney's own.
Butter, salt, pepper

Pasta – anything designed to hold a sauce, as rustic as possible.
Cheese – whatever local, hard, sheeps cheese can substitute for parmesan

Saucepan with lid, or casserole that you can use on the top of the stove.


Chop the onion into largish chunks and soften in a pan with a nob of butter and a glug of oil. Slice and deseed the pepper or peppers, and add to the onion. Slice the sausages into bite-size chunks, and add to the same pan. Try to ensure they get a bit browned, but you don’t need to cook them through, just colour. Chop and deseed the tomato, and add to the same pan. (Counsel of perfection - when deseeding the tomatoes, strain and reserve all the juices. These can be used to enhance the flavour of the stock.) Chop the stalks of your herbs, and add at this stage. I had sage, rosemary and fennel, and used roughly 2:1:1.

Keep some sage and fennel leaves for later.

Once everything in the pan is softened and beginning to colour, add a very generous amount of red wine (this is your stock) and bring to a gentle boil. Now cover and reduce to a bare simmer, or place in a lowish oven. Let it cook absolutely undisturbed for an hour while you sample the local wine, olives, feta, vine leaves and local wine.
After an hour, check your stifado, and adjust the seasoning if necessary (the sausages will have added plenty already) If it is cooked, turn of the heat and let it rest while you cook the pasta. If you can’t read the packet, go for 9 minutes in plenty of boiling salted water and test to see if it’s reached the the texture you like.

If you’re being posh, drain the pasta, toss with a little butter and olive oil, some shredded sage leaves and freshly ground black pepper. Spoon the sausage stifado on top, and garnish with more fresh herbs.

Otherwise, chuck the pasta in the same pan as the sausages, stir it all together and serve from the pot. More fresh herbs are good. Ply your fellow diners withlots more of the local red.