'Village' Spaghetti

We've been to Greece enough times now to have a pretty good idea of what food the country has to offer. Imagine my surprise, then, when a dish I hadn't actually heard of turned out not only to be delicious but quite new to us. Immediately after eating, I whipped out my phone and started writing what I thought could be a recipe for it, to try when I got home. And here's the result. Yes, I could have asked the chef how he made it, but that would be cheating, wouldn't it? My version has more Rosemary and Spinach in it for no other reason that I like them both...lots. Anyway, it's named after the restaurant we ate it in, just like they do.

'Village' Spaghetti (serves two hungry people)

Spaghetti

About 10-15 sliced green olives

Four pork sausages, taken from skins and pulled into peices

Three rasher of smoky, streaky bacon - chopped

150ml Double Cream

1 tblspn Tomato Puree

1 tspn Red Pesto

1/2 tspn Dijon (Or good English) Mustard

Pinch of dried Rosemary - or fresh is better

Spinach - a good couple of washed handfuls

Black Pepper

Olive Oil

1. Get your Spaghetti cooking in a deep pan of salted water.
2. With a glug of olive oil, brown your sausage pieces. When browned, add your bacon and turn down the heat to cook through.

3. When the bacon and sausage is cooked through, season liberally with black pepper & rosemary and add the sliced olives.

4. After a further couple of minutes, add the cream, pesto, mustard and puree to the meat and stir through to create your sauce.

5. By now your pasta will be well cooked, so drain it.

6. Stir the spinach into the sauce and let wilt; once wilted, you can pour over your pasta and mix.

7. Enjoy.

This is one of those dishes that looks familar due to the ingredients involved, but turns out to be quite unique. As always, do make sure you use good sausages and bacon - and you must use smoked bacon. So do give it a try, you'll like it, I tell ya.

I paired this (somewhat out of season) with Flying Dog's Dogtoberfest Ale. This Marzen-a-like has sweetness, but enough slightly smoky body to compliment the creamy sauce rather than overpower it.

Cheers!

The Old Village Taverna is on the main street in Skala, Kephalonia. Do try. It's one of the best tavernas in the village, and has great wine and whole fish dishes.