Giouvetsi Recipe: Greek Baked Lamb or Beef with Orzo

Giouvetsi is a Greek baked dish of stewed lamb or beef with orzo (kritharaki) in tomato sauce. The name comes from the clay pot in which it is traditionally finished in the oven.

Serves: 4 | Prep: 15 min | Cook: 100 min

Ingredients

• 800 g lamb shoulder or stewing beef, in chunks
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 400 g chopped tomatoes
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 litre hot beef or chicken stock
• 300 g orzo (kritharaki)
• Salt and pepper
• Grated kefalograviera to serve

Method

1. Brown the meat all over in the olive oil and remove it from the pan.
2. Soften the onion and garlic, add the tomatoes, tomato paste, cinnamon, bay leaves, oregano and 400 ml of the stock and return the meat. Simmer, covered, for 60 minutes.
3. Heat the oven to 180°C. Put the meat and sauce in a baking dish, stir in the orzo and 600 ml hot stock and season.
4. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring once halfway, until the orzo is cooked and most of the liquid is absorbed.
5. Remove the cinnamon and bay leaves and serve with grated kefalograviera.

Tips

• Keep some extra hot stock handy in case the orzo dries out.
• With chicken the stewing time is shorter: 30 minutes is enough.

Products from Bakaliko

• Melissa - Whole Wheat Orzo (Kritharaki) 500 g
• Bafas - Kefalograviera from Epirus 300 g
• Thalassa - Greek Oregano 50 g

More Greek recipes

• Kritharaki: Greek pork and orzo stew
• Lamb kleftiko

Photo: Robert Kindermann, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons.