I made this last week and no word of a lie, it’s one of the top 5 tastiest things I’ve ever made. Long winded but worth the wait!
As you will know from my family’s love of Italy and its cuisine, I am a big fan of Mediterranean food. Having never been to Greece, I probably know least about Greek food out of the ‘Meditteranean umbrella’. From the little I have tried, I love it all – Moussaka, Greek Salad, souvlaki.. and now, Kleftiko!
From reading online, I don’t think this is a particularly authentic version of Kleftiko but it’s really delicious and surely that’s what really counts?! This recipe came out of an old copy of Olive magazine but it is also available on the BBC Good Food website here.
Lamb Kleftiko with Lemon Crispy Potatoes
Ingredients:
- 1 small onion, halved and sliced
- 2 diced carrots
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 350g lamb neck fillets, cut into small chunks
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon or drop a cinnamon stick into the sauce
- ½ small bunch oregano, plus a little to finish
- 2 garlic cloves, bashed
- 4 tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 200ml chicken stock
- 100g feta cheese, crumbled
For the potatoes:
- 700g potatoes, peeled and cut into small chunks
- groundnut oil
- ½ lemon, zested
- Sea salt
Method:
- Heat the oven to 180 degrees C/fan oven 160C/gas mark 4.
- Put the first 9 ingredients in a small casserole with a lid. Stir it all up and season well.
- Put a double sheet of foil between the pot and lid then put the lid on and scrunch the foil around it to make an airtight seal. Cook for 1 & 1/2 hours.
- Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water until just tender then drain well.
- After 1 & 1/2 hours turn up the heat to 200 degrees C/fan oven 180C/gas mark 6 and take off the lid and foil. (If it’s looking too dried out, add a little bit of water)
- Put a shallow roasting tin in the oven with 2 tbsp oil for 5 minutes to heat up. Add the potatoes and toss in the hot oil.
- Keep cooking the lamb and potatoes for another 30 minutes until the potatoes are golden and crisp (take out the lamb after 30 minutes and keep cooking the potatoes if needed). To finish, sprinkle the lamb with the feta and a little more oregano.
- Toss the crispy potatoes with the lemon zest and sea salt and serve with the lamb.
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| Lamb Kleftiko – served with a simple butterhead lettuce and red onion salad. |