Youvetsi – Greek Lamb and Orzo Stew
Professional restaurant recipe for a classic Greek stew!
Servings Prep Time
2people 20min
Cook Time Passive Time
4hrs 3.5hrs
Servings Prep Time
2people 20min
Cook Time Passive Time
4hrs 3.5hrs
Ingredients
Ingredients:
Seasoning
Instructions
  1. Trim the meat from fat, silver-skin and ligaments, cut in a medium size cubes (`~2.5 cm or 1″) and put in a medium size bowl. Note: save 50-70 g of the trimmed fat
  2. Sprinkle the coarse salt over the meat and mix with hand.
  3. Over medium low heat (3 out of 10) heat up lamb fat in a covered medium size stainless steel saucepan. Cook covered for 11 minutes. Note: The saucepan has to be big enough to hold all the cubed meat in one layer. You want to avoid stacking up and overcrowding the meat.
  4. Uncover and stir the fat, cover again and increase heat to medium high (8 out of 10). Cook for another 1-2 minutes.
  5. Take out and discard the rendered fat pieces. Put in cubed meat and stir to coat the meat evenly with fat. Cook uncovered for 1 to 1.5 minutes, stir the meat constantly. You want to mildly brown the meat, the fond will start to form on the bottom of the pan. Transfer the meat to a clean bowl.
  6. Add passata to the hot saucepan, use a wooden flat spoon to remove any fond from the pan bottom. Cook for about 1 minute.
  7. Add wine to the saucepan, take the pan off heat and deglaze the bottom of the pan. Set aside for a few minutes.
  8. Combine the wine mixture with the meat and gently stir around.
  9. In a spice grinder combine together cumin seeds, black peppercorns and oregano. Grind to powder and sprinkle over the meat.
  10. Sprinkle Wonderful World seasoning over the meat, gently stir to combine everything.
  11. Add chopped red onion to the mixture, stir together.
  12. Transfer the mixture to brazing dish with tightly sealing lid. Add the cinnamon stick on top of the meat mixture. Note: Brazing dish size is crucial for the desired outcome! Added meat mixture should occupy no less than minimum 1/2 of the dish and ideally 3/4 of the dish volume! If the brazing dish is too large the meat will dry out! If you are unsure how well the lid seals off add parchment paper overhanging the edges before closing the lid. This will make tighter seal. Poor lid seal will also result with dried out meat.
  13. Preheat the oven, rack in the middle to 160ºC (320ºF) and braze for 3.5 hours. Open the lid and stir after 2-2.5 hours. If crusty around the edges and dry add a little water.
  14. As the lamb is in the oven brazing, cook orzo as per the instruction on the package. Cook orzo “al dente” drain and mix with little olive oil to prevent clumping, set aside. Time orzo cooking as close as you can with the end of the meat brazing.
  15. After the brazing dish is taken out of oven shift the oven rack up to 10 cm (4″) from the broiler. Line lightly oiled baking sheet with sliced tomatoes and broil until charred, preferably with fan assist turned on if it is available. Note: Watch it carefully to prevent burning, you want it caramelized and not burned! Time will depend on the oven, thickness of tomato slices, distance to the broiler and water content. It took me about 8 minutes.
  16. Remove and discard the cinnamon stick from the brazed meat. Gently stir charred tomato slices and cooked orzo into the brazing dish.
  17. Transfer everything to 17.5cm x 25cm (7″x10″) corningware dish (or similar) and evenly distribute. Crumble feta cheese on top and sprinkle with shredded parmesan cheese. Note: Do not use strong sheep feta cheese! It is too salty and that will destroy the dish! Instead use mild cow feta cheese.
  18. Shift the oven rack up to 12.5 cm (5″) from the broiler. Cook until the parmesan melted and slight crust formed on top. Watch it carefully to prevent burning! Note: Again the time depends on the broiler, but it took me 5 minutes.
  19. Serve immediately and enjoy!