Pastitsada is a Greek dish that I first taste here in Dubai at a Greek restaurant. And the typical me wanted to cook that dish at home with her own touch. The one I taste was with no wine in it so I wanted to try out the full authentic flavor.
The chicken Pastitsada is based on marinating the chicken with wine and aromas than slow cooked in tomato sauce. And served over some cooked spaghetti.
when I prepare a recipe, the first thinks I take into considerations how to make the recipe convenient for meal prep and how to make it easy and fast for the same reason.
So, my own version of this recipe kept the main concept of the marinate and the cooking in tomato sauce, but instead of the slow cooking, I am going to do it in the pressure cooker (instant-pot) for a faster version. I added some extra seasoning and marinated the chicken with wine, but if you wanted alcohol free you can replace the wine with grape vinegar.
Traditionally it is made with the whole chicken pieces with bones which omit the need of the chicken broth, because slowly cooking the chicken with their bones will give you that broth. But for meal-prep our week days lunch, it is usually easier for me to use boneless chicken pieces so I use broth with the recipe.
In all case this recipe is so delicious with a very deep aromatic flavor with a luscious tomato sauce. it is a very healthy, earthy warm meal that kids and adult will love equally. Kids love everything that includes pasta!
check out this video to help you cook this recipe in no time and let’s get cooking!
check out my other instant-pot recipes for more quick lunch ideas !
Greek Chicken Pastitsada (pressure cooker):
Equipment
- pressure cooker or instant pot
Ingredients
For chicken marinade:
- 1 kg chicken breast boneless but skin-on
- 300 ml cooking dry wine
- Spices: ½ tsp sweet pepper, ½ tsp 7 spices, ½ tsp grounded cloves, 1 tsp cinnamon powder.
- 2 leaf dry bay
For the tomato sauce:
- 1 tbsp grapeseed oil or any neutral vegetable oil
- 1 big onion finely diced
- 2 gloves garlic minced
- 1 big ripe tomato finely chopped
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp chili paste optional
- 500 ml chicken broth
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 500 g spaghetti cooked according to package
Instructions
- Step 1: For the chicken marinade: mix all the marinade ingredients and marinate the chicken for 2 hours minimum up to overnight.
- Step 2: remove the chicken from marinade and set the marinade aside, don’t throw. Set the pressure cooker to sauté program and heat oil. add the chicken and brown on all sides. You don’t have to fully cook the chicken; it will cook later on with the sauce. Set the browned chicken aside.
- Step 3: in the same pot, add the onion and scrape the bottom of the pot to collect all the chicken flavors, cook until onion start to turn transparent add the garlic and mix for 30 sec until you can smell the garlic. Add fresh tomato, tomato paste and the chili paste if u added any. Cook it all through for 3 minutes until tomato start to release their juices. Add the chicken broth and chicken marinade we kept aside and mix everything together.
- Step 4: add back the chicken pieces, some salt and pepper and bring the mixture to boil. Close the pot lid; set the vent position to sealing; cancel the sauté program; set the cooker on high pressure for 15 minutes; let the recipe cook; after the 15 minutes have passed let the cooker naturally release the pressure for 10 minutes.
- Step 5: quick release the remaining pressure and open the lid, taste for seasoning and adjust to taste.
- Cook the pasta according to package and serve the chicken with the sauce on top of the pasta enjoy!
Notes
- You can use any part of the chicken you like I tried this recipe with chicken thighs and chicken breast and both where delicious and tender because of the pressure cooking. But always use the pieces skin-on for the best result and you can also use pieces with bones more and more nutritious but for meal-prep I usually use boneless pieces easier to cut and serve in work lunch.
- If you use pieces with bones you can replace the chicken broth with normal water.
For the wine, I always use whatever wine a have left form an open bottle, you can use any of your favorite wine and for an alcohol-free version just replace the wine with grape vinegar, to maintain that tanginess in the sauce and marinate the chicken. - For packing this meal for the week: pack the pasta separate from the chicken and tomato sauce, and mix before reheating. This recipe will stay fresh in the fridge in glass air tight containers up to 5 days.