Casserole Apicius with Meat or Fish

This casserole comes straight from Apicius, the famous ancient Roman cookbook, and it’s surprisingly doable in a modern kitchen. Layers of thin homemade crepes alternate with cooked meat or fish simmered in a sauce of stock, white wine, sweet muscatel, olive oil, and celery seed. Pine nuts and coarsely cracked pepper get scattered between each layer, and the whole thing bakes until heated through and fragrant.

The crepes are classic French-style: thin, eggy, and flexible. Cook them over high heat in a greased pan, just long enough to get lightly browned on each side. They need to be pliable enough to lay flat in the casserole without cracking.

For the filling, you’re working with already-cooked meat (pork, chicken, or fish), which means the sauce is really about building flavor, not cooking the protein. The combination of dry white wine and sweet raisin wine creates a complex, layered sweetness that was a hallmark of Roman cooking. Thicken the sauce with flour so it clings to the meat layers and doesn’t pool at the bottom of the dish.

Don’t forget to pierce a hole in the top crepe. That small vent lets steam escape so the layers stay defined rather than turning into a soggy stack.

Chef Tips

• Veal stock, if you can get it, gives the most authentic and richest result. Chicken stock works well as a substitute.
• Celery seed stands in for lovage, which the Romans used extensively. If you can find fresh lovage at a farmers’ market, use it; the flavor is more complex.
• Toast the pine nuts lightly before layering. Raw pine nuts are fine, but toasted ones add a warm, buttery depth that’s worth the extra two minutes.

Variations

• Seafood version: Use flaky white fish like cod or halibut for a lighter dish that’s closer to what a coastal Roman household would have prepared.
• Modern shortcut: Use store-bought crepes to save time. The filling and layering are where the real character lives.