Chicken with Hilopites: Greek Chicken and Egg Pasta in Tomato Sauce

Chicken pieces on hilopites in tomato sauce in a deep plate

Kotopoulo me hilopites is chicken braised in a tomato sauce scented with cinnamon and allspice, then finished with hilopites: the small square egg pasta that Greek grandmothers used to make by hand and dry in the sun for the winter. The pasta cooks in the sauce and soaks up all its flavour. Serve it with plenty of grated kefalotyri.

Serves: 4 | Prep: 15 min | Cook: 75 min

Ingredients

  • 1 chicken of about 1.5 kg, in 8 pieces (or 1.2 kg chicken thighs and drumsticks)
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 large onion, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste
  • 400 g chopped tomatoes
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 4 allspice berries
  • 1 bay leaf
  • About 1.2 litres hot water or chicken stock
  • 400 g hilopites
  • Salt and pepper
  • 80 g kefalotyri, grated, to serve

Method

  1. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Brown it on all sides in the olive oil in a wide, deep pan, then take it out.
  2. Soften the onion in the same pan for 5 minutes, add the garlic and the tomato paste and stir for 1 minute.
  3. Add the chopped tomatoes, cinnamon, allspice and bay leaf, return the chicken and pour in 500 ml hot water. Cover and simmer gently for 45 minutes until the chicken is tender.
  4. Lift out the chicken and keep it warm. Remove the cinnamon, allspice and bay leaf. Add 700 ml hot water or stock to the sauce and bring it to the boil.
  5. Add the hilopites and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring often, until they are soft and most of the liquid is absorbed. Add a little more hot water if needed: the dish should be saucy, not dry.
  6. Put the chicken back on top, cover and let it rest off the heat for 5 minutes. Serve with grated kefalotyri.

Tips

  • Brown the chicken well: that is where the depth of the sauce comes from. Do it in two batches if your pan is small.
  • You can also finish it in the oven: put everything with the hilopites and the hot liquid in a baking dish and bake for 25 to 30 minutes at 180°C, like giouvetsi.
  • No hilopites at home? Orzo (kritharaki) works too.

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Photo: Badseed, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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