“AAh...Fotini’s macaroni…” This is what my dad says every time a plate of baked pasta is set in front of him. I have heard this woman mentioned throughout my childhood, and even now, her name still pops up every time. (Then he lets out a sigh)
My mom would remain placid and the meal would proceed; finally, I inquired about this Fotini person to my aunt Lucette, who lives in Denmark; (dad is not prone to anecdotes or small talk).
Fotini was the Greek cook who lived with my dad’s family for 30 years in Egypt. She was the daughter of a Greek orthodox priest and a native of Samos; she became like a member of the family. My dad and his sister would call her Fotnakimou and loved her dearly. She only spoke Greek and had no interest in speaking anything else, so the entire family became conversant in Greek (or they wouldn’t eat probably); she was exceptionally gifted and made an outstanding continental-style cuisine, including a macaroni dish that she covered in a homemade phyllo dough and baked in the oven (which left an indelible mark on my dad).
When phlebitis and old-age came, she decided to move back to Samos; she went to the bank to collect thirty years worth of earnings, carefully saved up in gold coins; the bank teller handed her a wad of paper bills; she saw these, shrieked and promptly fainted.
She was brought back to consciousness, put on a ship and went home, without her gold, but with paper bills instead.
This is my take on Fotini’s macaroni; it is pasta, Lebanese-style, with minced lamb and kashkaval cheese. I encased the whole thing in phyllo, since that’s what my aunt said Fotini used to do. (Except hers was homemade)
What is Kashkaval cheese?
It is a sheep’s milk cheese, comes from Bulgaria (Romania, Macedonia) and is loved, just loved in Lebanon; I used to eat it on a daily basis with pita bread and tomato slices. It is available at middle-eastern stores. In Lebanon, it is called kashkawan.
INGREDIENTS: 8 to 10 servings
- 1 1/2 pounds of spaghetti
- olive oil, as needed
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, mashed with a dash of salt
- 1 pound of lamb, ground
- 3 cups of lamb broth (or meat or veal broth)
- 4 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped or 1 box of Pomi (or something similar)
- a handful of pine nuts, toasted in skillet with a tad of butter
- 3 cups (or more) of Kashkaval cheese (or Provolone or Fontina cheese), grated coarsely
METHOD:
- Step One: Heat a skillet and fry the meat, using two spoons to break up into small pieces if it clumps together. Drain the meat by dumping it in a strainer. Fry the onion in hot oil and add the meat to the onion. Season with salt, pepper, cinnamon and allspice. Add the chopped tomatoes, the lamb or meat stock and cook the mixture for about 30 minutes. Add the chopped garlic the last 5 minutes of cooking. Adjust seasoning.
- Step Two: Cook the spaghetti until al dente and cover the pasta with the sauce, coating it evenly. Add the shredded kashkaval cheese and toss the pasta to coat it evenly with the cheese. Taste and adjust seasoning.
- Step Three: Grease the bundt pan; spread one phyllo sheet on the diagonal, pressing to let it take on the shape of the pan. Butter the sheet (or spray); add 5 more sheets, covering the entire surface of the bundt pan, including the neck of the pan.
- Delicately so as not to tear the phyllo dough, add the pasta in several scoops. Fold the phyllo dough over the pasta, adding one or two sheets if necessary to make sure the pan is fully enclosed. Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and set on a flat surface for about 5 minutes. When ready to serve, flip over onto a serving platter.
NOTE: The actual spaghetti is not very wet; the sauce and the cheese keep it moist but it is not swimming in sauce!
I am participating with this post in the 5 Star Makeover for Pasta:
98 Comments
Dear Joumana – What a wonderful story…it was a bit deja vu. We had a ‘Fontini’ in our home too growing up
The pasta has the most delightful ingredients and I am definitely going to buy the cheese when I go to the halal market this weekend to get mutton (baby goat)…can’t wait. It is long overdue and I can almost see bellies being rubbed after the meal!
Ciao, Devaki @ weavethousandflavors
They just took Fotini’s gold coins and gave her a bunch of paper bills instead?? HOW COULD THE BANK DO THAT WITH THEIR CUSTOMERS?????? Oh GOD….no wonder my mum never trusts the banks…
Haven’t tried cooking macoroni with lamb. This looks delicious!
what a great story..she fainted really?? oh my lol, great recipe as always..
sweetlife
Funny story about Fotini. This cheese is also made in Cyprus and is called kaskavalli. When I made a post about Greek and Cypriot cheeses I found information about this cheese and it seems to have originated from the Italian caccio cavallo. http://kopiaste.org/2009/09/greek-and-cypriot-cheeses/
What a great story! She knew she had the power! Poor gal though, expecting to see her gold! This is a lot like pastitsio.
Recipe seems nice, will try veg version of this
I really loved your Fotini story!
Btw, is the method of the recipe missing, or am I just missing it?
Oh poor Fotini !!! Another great recipe from you…It looks delicious
My daughter would LOVE this recipe. I am sending her the link now.
Valerie
Love the story and the recipe is getting made this weekend… you answered the question that was on my mind… if not chicken… what? Wonderful combination but I wonder what Greeks used before tomatoes!
Spectacular Jouman!
This recipe is wonderful and very elegant to display, I have to admit that I select meals to make for dinner parties based on how impressively they present and are healthy, I am just that kind of girl. Sit back and enjoy all the oohs and ahs of your guests as you bring this dish to the table.It is almost too pretty to eat, and it is very appealing to the eye. thank you kindly.
Kackavalj…reminds me of my childhood:))) Here (in German) is very seldom.
Oh wow — what a great story, and what an incredible, unusual and delicious-looking dish! I love the cross-section photo of the sliced spaghetti cake.
oh she sounds like a fun lady and wow this is the coolest thing ever adore it
Such a lovely reminiscence about Fotini (except for the unfortunate episode at the bank). This spaghetti cake is so striking – I must make this . . .!
looks like a lot of work but worth making it..looks very beautiful and so unique
Love the story behind this dish…and a new cheese introduced! Ooh la la! kashkaval cheese…I love all the new things I’m learning from your blog.
Les recettes accompagnées de belles histoires familiales sont toujours les meilleures, pour moi ! Et ce plat est absolument terrible ! Je dois juste aller me renseigner un peu plus sur ce fromage, pour pouvoir essayer à mon tour … En tout cas bravo, c’est beau, c’est bon ? Que demander de plus ? Je reviendrai souvent me promener par ici, je crois bien ! ;o)
Bonne journée
Hélène
Loved reading your post! And this spaghetti cake looks fabulous!!
Kashkaval is my favorite cheese!!
This looks easy enough to make but as always, Middle Eastern ingredients, let alone Bulgarian cheese, are pretty hard to come by here in the Far East.
I really need to bug my mom about another care package.
They do something like this with noodles at Japanese sushi houses in this region. They take soba noodles instead of rice and make them into sushi rolls. It looks quite beautiful once they’re sliced.
The only baked pasta dish I’ve ever come across is lasagna… how boring! This looks amazing – the cross-section shot makes me giggle for some reason. All those squiggly worms!
This looks absolutely delicious. Love pasta and lamb and your story that goes along with it. I hope I can find this cheese.
I don’t really have a sweet tooth so this has to be one of the most droolworthy cakes I have seen in a while. Super creative!
A wonderful story and an amazing recipe. I love discovering new things, espcially with phyllo. Your photos are so beautiful and inspiring.
THis is such and interesting and refreshing way of serving pasta. Your photos make the dish look so delicious!
This is wonderful! I can see why this dish made an indelible impression on your dad. I would love to try the kashkaval cheese, too. There is a cafe called Kashkaval in nyc (on 9th ave in the mid-50s) that serves terrific Middle Eastern and Mediterranean food. They offer a large selection of to-go items, including cheeses, so next time I’m in the neighborhood I will look for kashkaval.
I have never seen such a recipe for pasta, but it looks spectacular!
Je te souhaite plein de bonheur pour ce 1er mai ! Dommage que le soleil ne soit pas au rendez-vous…
Bonne journée
bisous
Awesome dish! Thanks, I am really getting an education on your site with the recipes. Keep up the fantastic work (and I forgive your pre-made phyllo tresspass;-) )
I love how well you wove taht story into the glorious food. This cake reminds me of a sweet version I ate in Cratia. I was so impressed that I asked for the recipe. I got the recipe, but unfortunately it is in Croation and I just look at it trying to figure it out! Someday I’ll get it translated. GREG
belle histoire, j’ai bien voyagé dans le temps.
Le plat est excelent , rien à dire, très originale, j’aime beaucoup, bravo
What a lovely family story …. I love when there is a personal story attached to a recipe … that makes cooking even more exciting
Your pasta cake looks beautiful and I would love to be eating a piece of it now 
xxx
funny that you came across my little hidden place (thank you for your nice words) … because Lebanese food has always been (since I tried it the first time) one of my three favorite world food
therefore i’m delighted to click back and discover your site !
Merci pour ton commentaire sur mon blog. Et très sincèrement je suis aussi ravie de découvrir le tien qui tout à fait dans l’esprit que je recherche.. Je le mets dans mes favoris. Cette recette est terrible, et le kaskhaval est aussi un fromage que l’on trouve en Serbie et que j’achète ici dans la supérette turque où je m’approvisionne…alors inutile de te dire que je vais tester cette recette très très rapidement! Bonne soirée et merci!!
Gosh – it looks very very impressive! Love the photos!
I can’t say what I liked more, the story of Fotini or this incredible sounding recipe you shared with us. I have to make it – your dad’s commitment to this dish and the story of the fainting reminds me of the Greek dish, imam baildi, apropros of nothing. It translates to mean the “priest has fainted” because the dish was so exceptional, which this dish sounds like it is akin to. Thank you!
That’s a gorgeous mold! I will try making a vegetarian version
What a fantastic unique recipe! The other night I made standard baked penne, but this looks and sounds wonderful and so much more interesting. Funny story about Fotina and you dad, I love recipes that have memories attached to them.
O wow this is delicious family style dish! I saw something similar on Picky palate where she is used garlic breadstick dough instead of the phyllo you are using. I was not really impressed with it … but as I see yours … esp with the Kashkaval cheese … this is looking good to me!
I LOVE this story! And the dish makes me weak in the knees…..I want to try this!
So beautiful. This would go great with rice I’m sure.
THIS looks so interesting. And so delicious. On my to make list.
What a wonderfully unique way of serving pasta. Love it! And loved the story – esp. the part where she fainted, lol.
Fantastic pasta dish and a wonderful entry into the 5 star pasta makeover challenge. Good luck to you. Cheers!
What a fun story, and an equally delicious recipe. I’ve never had such a dish, but look forward to changing that very soon. I just had some delicous lamb this evening, and it just wasn’t enough. So guess what’s on the menu for Sunday dinner? Perhaps Spaghetti cake! Thank you.
Hehe, poor old Fotini with her new fangled notes! I hope she came to see the blessing of not having to carry 5 tonne of coins with her
I agree with others that this is a very interesting looking dish, and I think if it were served to me I’d be sighing like your dad (but my sigh would be in pleasure at the dish in front of me, not in my memory!)
Gorgeous cross section pic Joumana, you know as I was reading it (and good that Fotini wasn’t a former girlfriend of your dad’s for your mum’s sake!) I was so intrigued to see what it would look like!
This looks magnificent! Really tasty looking – I bet the softness of the spaghetti and crispness of the filo go together beautifully. We buy Kashkval regularly; I never looked at the ingredients so I didn’t realise I have been eating sheep’s milk cheese!
Cela semble délicieux ! Je ne connaissais pas du tout !
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