Mani-style tsouchti is a traditional dish with humble ingredients but rich flavor, born from the local cuisine’s need for quick and nourishing meals.
Translation | Amaryllis Tsegou
Although this pasta dish is easy and quick to prepare, there are a few details worth paying attention to:
- Use good-quality ingredients.
- Be careful not to overcook the eggs - the yolk should remain runny so that it breaks over the pasta and blends with the mizithra and pasta.
Tsouchti
Prep time: 10 mins | Cooking time: 20 mins | Total time: 30 mins | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1 package No. 5 pasta (thick spaghetti or bucatini)
- 75 ml olive oil, plus extra for frying the eggs
- 1 tbsp butter
- 250 g dry mizithra cheese, finely grated
- 8 eggs
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
- For the Mani-style tsouchti, boil the pasta according to the package instructions, reducing the suggested cooking time by 1–2 minutes, until al dente. Drain and return to the pot.
- Heat the olive oil and butter in a frying pan and add 200 g of the grated mizithra. Stir with a wooden spoon until the cheese starts to brown lightly, taking care not to let it darken too much or burn.
- Pour the contents of the pan over the pasta and mix well so the cheese coats it evenly.
- Heat a little more olive oil in the same frying pan and fry the eggs two at a time until the whites are set, but keep the yolks runny.
- Divide the pasta among plates, top each portion with one or two eggs, sprinkle with the remaining mizithra and plenty of freshly ground black pepper and serve immediately.
Tips
- Traditionally, tsouchti is made with dry mizithra, but dry Cretan anthotyro also works very well.
- If you prefer thinner pasta, you can substitute the thick pasta with spaghetti or linguine.
