Chicken with Baked Pasta

Recipe-Ingrediants

A classic traditional Sunday dish in many households. It reminds us of our mothers, our grandmothers, gatherings, beautiful moments filled with laughter, joy, jokes, with our beloved ones. Personally, it reminds me of the clay pot my mother used to put in the wood-fired oven on Sundays in Alepochori, with our aunts and cousins gathered around. How beautiful it was!! Dad would light the oven and gather the ingredients from the garden (tomatoes, onions, garlic, and even ingredients for the salad), mom would prepare the food, and we, the kids, would go to the big table with cutlery, glasses, etc. to set it nicely. Our aunt would teach us, "Fork on the right, and the glass!"...and our uncle...Leave it to the kids!!! Why? Because if it's the other way around, won't we eat? The house was filled with the aroma of the sauce, and there was a battle over who would bring the hot bread to the table (he would cut us a piece after all the games we had played), because we would nibble on it, dipping it in the oil from the salad! Then, dad would take out the clay pot and place it on the table. Prayer always preceded, and we would dive into the food! I wasn't too fond of meat, so I would try to take the smallest piece and load my plate with pasta. Before serving, I would sprinkle grated cheese on the bottom of my plate, so it would mix with the sauce and the pasta...and of course, another sprinkle of cheese on top! One strange thing, though...no matter how many times I make this dish, the aroma always takes me back to those years, to the same memories, and while cooking, I smile and think of those times, but the taste of mom's dish is never the same...no matter how hard I try, it's never the same. Maybe it's missing the ingredients from dad's garden, maybe the clay pot, maybe the wood that gave a different aroma to the food, or maybe it's the childhood memory that magnified events due to excitement and innocence...but it was never the same. The dish we present today is an old last piece that reminds me of grandma's food...

Ingredients:
•    1 chicken, cut into pieces
•    2 large onions, finely chopped
•    3 garlic cloves, sliced
•    5 ripe tomatoes, grated, or 1 can of crushed tomatoes
•    1 glass of red wine
•    1 tbsp tomato paste
•    1 liter chicken broth
•    1 package of macaroni (6N) made from durum wheat
•    Olive oil
•    Salt, pepper, 4-5 allspice berries, 2 bay leaves, 1 tsp smoked paprika, thyme, a pinch of sugar
•    Grated cheese for serving