food for the mind and the body

I'm one of those lucky people who belongs to a great reading group. Once a month I can count on good talk, good books and good food.

The food is always pot luck. The host supplies wine and everyone else in this small -- six persons -- group brings interesting and delicious nibblies.

Inspired by our latest read, The Leopard, by Guiseppe Lampedusa, I was moved to bring along a recreation of a famous dish from the book itself: pasticcio di maccheroni.

I had to make it up as I went along since there are no authentic -- that is to say, faithful to the novel -- recipe to be found. It's also likely that the original contained certain foods we might not relish -- cock's combs, unborn eggs and offal of various descriptions. As well, these kind of meat dishes are traditionally encased in very rich, very sweet thick pastry.

My version is modernized, streamlined, with reduced fat and salt and, I thought, pretty tasty anyway. I kept a hint of the sweetness and all of the fragrance of the cinnamon for which it is famous.

The Leopard that Changed its Spots Pie

one ten-inch springform pan

one package phyllo pastry

1/2 cup melted butter

1 tsp cinnamon

two tsp sugar

six roasted chicken thighs, coarsely diced

1/2 pound Tuscany style ham, coarsely diced

three hard boiled eggs, coarsely chopped

1 tsp cinnamon

8 oz whole wheat elbow macaroni, cooked al dente

1/4 cup grated romano cheese

12 oz very small mushroom caps, halved and floured

1 1/2 cups plain white sauce

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Layer six sheets of phyllo in three layers, overlapping the rectangles to make a larger square, and brushing each layer with butter and sprinkling with some of the cinnamon and sugar.

Place in the springform pan, pushing into the bottom.

Layer three more pieces of phyllo and cut out a round large enough for a top. Set aside.

Combine the chicken, ham, eggs and cinnamon.

In the prepared pan, layer half of the pasta, half of the cheese, half of the chicken mixture and half of the mushrooms. Repeat. Pour the white sauce over.

Cover with the prepared phyllo round and bring up the edges of the pastry, trimming as desired.

Bake at 450 for 15 minutes. Cover the top of the pie with aluminum foil, reducing the heat to 375 and cooking another 35 minutes.

Let stand for 10 minutes and then remove the outer ring.

Enjoy!