Chef Dimitra
Attiki Kotopoulo me Patates sto Fourno (Κοτόπουλο με Πατάτες στο Φούρνο)
Attiki's lemon-oregano tray roast: chicken browned above, potatoes cut large below, drinking olive oil, garlic, lemon, and all the Sunday pan juices.
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Peloponnesian Kokoras Krasatos (Κόκορας Κρασάτος)
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Peloponnesian kokoras krasatos is the Sunday rooster, browned well, braised low in red wine, tomato, and cinnamon, then spooned over hilopites.
Main Dishes
Greek
Special Occasion
Comfort Food
Make Ahead
25 min
Active Time
2 hr 15 min cook•2 hr 40 min total
Yield6 servings
Kokoras krasatos belongs to the Peloponnesian Sunday table: rooster browned in olive oil, then braised in red wine, tomato, cinnamon, and bay until the sauce turns dark enough to stain the hilopites beneath it. The region is the dish's surname here, especially when the wine comes from Nemea and the pasta is the little egg square Greeks call hilopites.
The whole dish depends on patience after the wine goes in. Let the wine bubble hard for a few minutes before the tomato joins it, so the raw edge cooks away and the sauce becomes deep rather than sharp. Then lower the flame and leave the bird alone. A mature rooster needs time to surrender, often two hours, and there's no clever way around that.
I use rooster when I can find it, and an older free-range chicken when I can't. Λίγα και καλά, a few things, and good ones. Brown meat, honest wine, ripe tomato, and the cinnamon used with restraint. That is enough. My grandmother Despina would have served this with pasta on a cold Sunday, the pot already on before the house had fully woken.
Kokoras krasatos is a rural mainland braise tied to households that kept chickens long past the tender age of a spring bird. In the Peloponnese, red wine from wine-growing areas such as Nemea gave the sauce its depth, while hilopites made from eggs and flour turned the braise into a full Sunday meal. The dish records a practical older kitchen: mature birds were not wasted, they were cooked slowly until strength became flavor.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
rooster or mature free-range chicken
Quantity
1, about 1.8kg
cut into 8 pieces
fine sea salt
Quantity
10g
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
3g
extra virgin Koroneiki olive oil
Quantity
80ml
yellow onions
Quantity
2 large, about 300g
finely chopped
garlic cloves
Quantity
3
sliced
tomato paste
Quantity
2 tablespoons
dry red wine, preferably Agiorgitiko from Nemea
Quantity
500ml
ripe tomatoes or canned crushed tomatoes
Quantity
400g
grated if fresh
cinnamon stick
Quantity
1
bay leaves
Quantity
2
allspice berries
Quantity
3
hot water or light chicken stock
Quantity
250ml
plus more if needed
hilopites (Greek egg pasta squares)
Quantity
500g
unsalted butter (optional)
Quantity
20g
grated kefalotyri or aged mizithra (optional)
Quantity
30g
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| rooster or mature free-range chickencut into 8 pieces | 1, about 1.8kg |
| fine sea salt | 10g |
| freshly ground black pepper | 3g |
| extra virgin Koroneiki olive oil | 80ml |
| yellow onionsfinely chopped | 2 large, about 300g |
| garlic clovessliced | 3 |
| tomato paste | 2 tablespoons |
| dry red wine, preferably Agiorgitiko from Nemea | 500ml |
| ripe tomatoes or canned crushed tomatoesgrated if fresh | 400g |
| cinnamon stick | 1 |
| bay leaves | 2 |
| allspice berries | 3 |
| hot water or light chicken stockplus more if needed | 250ml |
| hilopites (Greek egg pasta squares) | 500g |
| unsalted butter (optional) | 20g |
| grated kefalotyri or aged mizithra (optional)for serving | 30g |
Equipment Needed
- •wide heavy braising pot or Dutch oven, 28cm
- •large pasta pot
- •box grater for fresh tomatoes
Instructions
- 1
Season the bird
Pat the rooster very dry and season it all over with the salt and pepper. Let it stand while you chop the onions. A farm bird has flavor because it has worked, so don't treat it like a soft supermarket chicken and expect it to forgive haste.
- 2
Brown the pieces
Warm the olive oil in a wide heavy pot over medium-high heat. Brown the rooster in batches, skin side down first, until the pieces are deep gold on all sides, about 8 minutes per batch. Take your time here. Pale meat gives a pale sauce.
Do not crowd the pot. If the pieces sit too close, they sweat instead of browning. - 3
Build the sauce
Lower the heat to medium. Add the onions to the same pot and cook for 10 minutes, scraping the browned bits from the bottom, until the onions soften and turn honey-colored at the edges. Add the garlic and tomato paste, and stir for 2 minutes until the paste darkens.
- 4
Add the wine
Pour in the red wine and let it bubble firmly for 5 minutes, scraping the pot again. The sharp edge of the wine must cook off before the tomato goes in, or the sauce stays thin and sour instead of turning round and dark. This is the step that decides the dish.
- 5
Braise slowly
Return the rooster to the pot with any juices. Add the grated tomatoes, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, allspice, and hot water or stock. Bring to a low simmer, cover partly, and cook for about 2 hours, turning the pieces once or twice, until the meat gives easily when pierced and the sauce is glossy and brick-red.
- 6
Finish the sauce
Lift the rooster pieces to a warm platter. Simmer the sauce uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes if it looks loose, until it coats a spoon. Taste for salt. Remove the cinnamon, bay leaves, and allspice berries.
- 7
Cook the hilopites
Boil the hilopites in well-salted water until just tender, usually 6 to 8 minutes. Drain them and toss with the butter if you use it, then spoon over enough sauce to stain the pasta red. Set the rooster on top and finish with grated kefalotyri or mizithra if your table likes it.
- 8
Rest and serve
Let the pot stand for 10 minutes before serving. The sauce settles, the oil rises in a green-gold gloss, and the hilopites drink just enough of the wine and tomato. This is Sunday food, not nervous food.
Chef Tips
- •Use a real rooster if your butcher can get one. If not, choose an older free-range chicken or stewing hen, not a young tender bird that will dry before the sauce matures.
- •Choose a dry red wine you would drink at the table. Agiorgitiko is right for the Peloponnesian register, but any honest dry Greek red will do better than a sweet cooking wine.
- •This is better after a rest. Make it in the morning, or even the day before, then reheat gently and cook the hilopites just before serving.
Advance Preparation
- •Season the rooster up to 12 hours ahead and refrigerate it uncovered, then bring it toward room temperature for 30 minutes before browning.
- •The braise can be cooked 1 day ahead and chilled. Reheat it slowly with a splash of water before serving over freshly cooked hilopites.
- •If using fresh tomatoes, grate them up to 1 day ahead and keep them chilled.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 500g)
Calories
900 calories
Total Fat
41 g
Saturated Fat
11 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
27 g
Cholesterol
230 mg
Sodium
950 mg
Total Carbohydrates
71 g
Dietary Fiber
5 g
Sugars
7 g
Protein
55 g
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