Pastitsada

This is the original recipe I learned from my grandmother, Irini. Go heavy on the onions and the oil, this is NOT a light dish!Take 1 kg of rooster or beef, cut it in portions and fry it in a pan in olive oil until it is golden brown. Take the meat out of the pan.

In the same oil, fry 3 big, finely chopped onions. Add a small quantity of water and allow it to evaporate to make the onions soft and mushy. Repeat 2-3 times.
When the onions are golden brown, put the meat back in the pan, add some water (optionally also some wine), 4-5 cloves, 3-4 laurel leaves, a stick of cinnamon and let it simmer until the meat is tender.
Add a couple of spoonfuls of tomato paste, salt and pepper and let the sauce boil down until the oil becomes visible.
Serve with any kind of pasta, but preferably penne or thick, hollow spaghetti and grated hard cheese.
Instead of boiling in water (and wine) and adding tomato paste at the end, you can instead use 4-5 fresh grated tomatoes but then it will take longer until the meat is tender.