Greek Style Lamb Pasta Recipes

MAKARONIA ME KIMA RECIPE (GREEK STYLE SPAGHETTI IN MEAT SAUCE/BOLOGNESE)

Steps:

• To prepare this Greek style spaghetti with meat sauce recipe (Makaronia me kima), begin by preparing the meat sauce. Heat a large pan to medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Stir in the chopped onions and carrot and sauté, until softened and slightly coloured. Stir in the garlic, tomato paste and the mince breaking it up with a wooden spoon and sauté, until caramelized. Pour in the red wine and deglaze (wait to evaporate). Add the tinned tomatoes, water, sugar, cinnamon stick, cloves, bay leaf and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, turn the heat down and simmer with the lid on for about 30 minutes, until most of the juices have evaporated.
• Cook the spaghetti in salted boiling water according to package instructions. Drain the pasta in a collander and stir in 2tsp of olive oil.
• Tip over the drained pasta in the meat sauce pan and mix it so the sauce is evenly spread.
• Serve with grated cheese and a nice refreshing Greek feta salad and enjoy over a glass of wine!

GREEK LAMB STEW

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• Into the largest saucepan or casserole you have that will go into the oven, pour 3 tablespoons of the oil. Brown the meat in batches over high heat and remove with a slotted spoon to a plate nearby. You may need more oil as you do this. The onions will certainly need it, so pour the remaining oil or add more, add the onions, sprinkling a little salt over them and cook then until soft and translucent. Add the garlic, celery, thyme, and oregano. After a couple of minutes or so, when the smell of garlic wafts up, remove half the mixture. Add the meat to the mixture in the pan, cover with the remaining half, add the bay leaves, carrots, tomatoes, stock and wine. I use a big but flattish casserole and this amount of liquid covers the meat, but if you find you need more liquid, add water- you want a lot of liquid, because you will, eventually, be cooking some pasta in it. Bring to a boil, remove scum, and let bubble for about 3 minutes. Then cover, transfer to the oven, and bake for about 2 to 2 1/2 hours, or cook on a very low heat. The meat should be tender and yielding. Remove the carrots (and eat, cook's treat) and bay leaves, too, if you want, and season, to taste, with the salt and pepper.
• Of course you can proceed to the final stage now, but I am presuming you're not going to. In which case, let the stew cool and keep it in the refrigerator until you want it. Skim the fat off the top, and do remember to take it out of the refrigerator a good 1 to 2 hours before you cook it again. You can reheat this in the oven, but because the pasta will be put in on the stove, I tend to heat it there. Make sure the stew is piping hot. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. When it boils, add the salt and then pasta. Cook this until it's nearly but not quite cooked; it should have a couple of minutes still to go.
• Then drain the pasta and add it quickly to the bubbling juices in the casserole, making sure first that there are enough bubbling juices. You don't want the meat to be drowned, but you want enough for the pasta to be covered. The pasta will absorb some of the liquid as it finishes cooking, of course.
• In a couple of minutes, the pasta should be cooked. Crumble some feta and put in a bowl with the chopped parsley, oregano, or basil. Stir to combine and then leave the spoon with it, so that people can sprinkle the herb-spiked cheese over the stew as they wish. Ladle the stew into shallow soup bowls.

GREEK LAMB WITH ORZO

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Cut the lamb into 4cm chunks, then spread over the base of a large, wide casserole dish. Add the onions, oregano, cinnamon sticks, ground cinnamon and olive oil, then stir well. Bake, uncovered, for 45 mins, stirring halfway.
• Pour over the chopped tomatoes and stock, cover tightly, then return to the oven for 1½ hrs, until the lamb is very tender.
• Remove the cinnamon sticks, then stir in the orzo. Cover again, then cook for a further 20 mins, stirring halfway through. The orzo should be cooked and the sauce thickened. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan and serve with crusty bread.

GREEK LAMB & MACARONI BAKE

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large pan, add the onion and cook for 10 mins until soft. Add the garlic and cook for 1 min more, then tip in the lamb mince, turn up the heat and brown, breaking up the mince with a wooden spoon.
• Once the lamb is browned, add the cinnamon, crumbled stock cube, tomatoes and oregano. Stir well and simmer for 15 mins, covered, then for 15 mins, uncovered, until the sauce has thickened and the tomatoes have cooked down.
• Meanwhile, cook the macaroni following pack instructions. Drain well. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.
• Mix together the ricotta, most of the parmesan and the milk with plenty of seasoning, and stir into the macaroni. Tip the mince into a large baking dish, top with the macaroni mixture, and scatter over the remaining parmesan. Bake for 30 mins until golden and bubbling. Serve hot with garlic bread, if you like.

BARBECUED GREEK LAMB WITH TZATZIKI

Steps:

• Mash the garlic to a paste with a pestle and mortar. Mix with the olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, thyme and bay, and season with a little salt and plenty of pepper. Place the lamb in a large porcelain dish. Pour the marinade over the lamb and massage into the meat. Leave the lamb for at least 1 hr at room temperature, or longer in the fridge, but no longer than overnight or the meat will become too soft.
• To cook the lamb, fire up the barbecue, or heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. To cook on the barbecue, wait for the coals to turn ashen, then lay the lamb on the grill and cook for 15 mins on each side for meat that is pink, or 20 mins on each side for well done. To cook in the oven, place the lamb in a shallow roasting tin and roast for 30 mins for pink or 40 mins for well done, turning the lamb halfway through. Leave the meat to rest for 10 mins before carving.
• Meanwhile, make the tzatziki. Coarsely grate the cucumber, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and squeeze out all the liquid. Tip into a bowl with the yogurt, garlic and mint, and mix well. Carve the lamb into thick slices and serve with the tzatziki wrapped up in warm flatbreads.