Kokkinisto - comfort food in Greek.

I’m sure there must be typical Sunday family meals all over the world with dishes that in English are called ‘’comfort food’’ because they are family favorites. In Greek we don’t have the term “comfort food” but we call a family’s favorite dishes ‘’Sunday dishes’’ probably because Sunday is the only day families manage to gather and have lunch all together.

 I remember Sunday family meals usually had our favorite food cooked with love by moms or grandmas and served informally in the kitchen or more formally in the dining room. My favorite Sunday dish had always been kokkinisto and, as far as I know, it is many other kids’ favorite too. Kokkinisto means “made red” and it is meat, in our case beef, cooked in tomato sauce. This dish is usually served with fried potatoes, (this must be the reason kids love it) spaghetti, or with other traditional pasta like chylopites (little squares of pasta) and grated mizithra cheese. On the island of Corfu this dish has its own special name, ’’pastitsada’’ and it is served with macaroni.

Serves 4

1kg fillet of beef, top loin or sirloin

150gr olive oil

300gr chopped ripe tomatoes

1 Tsp tomato paste (optional)

1 Tsp sugar

1 medium onion, chopped

1-2 garlic cloves chopped

1 cinnamon stick

Salt and pepper to taste

1 litre hot water

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the meat in batches, cooking until just browned, - about 2 minutes. Remove meat to a plate and in the same skillet cook the onion, stirring, until it is softened (about 3 minutes). Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, spices, garlic and water and simmer for 5 minutes. Put the meat back in the skillet with the tomato sauce, cover and cook for about 1 hour or until the meat is tender and the sauce has thickened. If needed, add more water   and cook some more. Serve with pasta or fried potatoes.