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White Wine Braised Rooster with Greek Pasta
Rooster with white wine, tomato and spices, as I remember it from mountain village tavernas.
🍽️ 4 servings Cook 50 min. Total 50 min. ⭐ Medium
Seasons: All Seasons
Cooking methods: Boiling / Simmering

The Story Behind the Recipe

I was a picky eater as a child. When we visited tavernas in mountain villages, though, wine-braised rooster was one dish I knew I would enjoy. We found it often enough that there was always something I really wanted to eat. I loved it with either small square hilopites or longer Greek egg noodles, especially with grated cheese on top. I wanted to recreate that flavour at home. Personally, I find rooster gives more depth of flavour than chicken, and this recipe brings it out beautifully.

The Technique

  • Brown the meat, build the sauce in the same pot and simmer until tender.
  • The bird itself makes a substantial difference to the cooking time.
Ingredients

  • Rooster: 1 large, approximately 1.8 kg, jointed

  • Onions: 2 large or 3 medium, chopped

  • Garlic: 3-4 cloves, chopped

  • Chopped tomatoes: 1 can, approximately 400 g as a guide

  • Tomato paste: 1-2 tsp

  • White wine: for deglazing and almost covering the meat

  • Chicken stock or a stock cube: to taste

  • Bay leaves: 2

  • Cinnamon, allspice, cloves, salt and black pepper: to taste

  • Olive oil: for sautéing

  • Hilopites or other Greek egg noodles and grated cheese of your choice: for serving

Steps

Method

  1. Brown the rooster in olive oil in batches and remove it.

  2. Sauté the onions in the same pot. Once softened, add garlic, followed by tomato paste.

  3. Deglaze with white wine and scrape the base.

  4. Add the tomatoes, rooster with its juices and enough white wine to almost cover.

  5. Add stock, salt carefully, pepper, cinnamon, allspice, cloves and bay leaves.

  6. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer. The bird in the video took approximately 45-50 minutes after reaching a boil. Continue longer if necessary until tender and cooked through.

  7. Cook the pasta separately according to its packet and serve with the rooster, sauce and grated cheese.

Tips and Secrets

  1. Check that the rooster is tender before finishing. The 45-50 minutes describe this particular preparation; an older bird may need considerably longer.

  2. If more simmering is needed and the liquid has reduced too far, top it up as needed to continue cooking without drying out the sauce.

  3. Taste the sauce towards the end and adjust the salt and spices gradually.

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