056Lamb giouvetsi with orzo

Method

Sunday family lamb and orzo casserole. Serve warm at the table straight from the baking dish.

You will need

• heavy Dutch oven or sauté pot
• large baking dish or clay baking pan
• tongs
• wooden spoon

1. Heat 50 ml of the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over high heat, season the lamb pieces with salt and pepper, and sear them thoroughly on all sides until well browned. 10 min Ready when: lamb deeply browned all over
2. Transfer the lamb to a plate, lower the heat to medium, and sauté the chopped onion and garlic in the remaining oil until soft and golden. 6 min Ready when: onions softened and lightly coloured
3. Stir in the tomato paste for one minute, pour in the red wine to deglaze the pan, scraping up all the browned bits, and simmer until reduced by half. 3 min Ready when: wine reduced and pan deglazed
4. Add the tinned tomatoes, cinnamon stick, allspice berries, and 400 ml of boiling water; return the lamb to the pot, cover, and simmer gently over low heat for sixty minutes until the lamb is tender. 60 min Ready when: lamb meat yielding and sauce spiced
5. Preheat a conventional oven to 180°C (350°F). 180°C / 355°F Ready when: oven fully preheated
6. Transfer the braised lamb pieces and sauce into a large baking dish or traditional earthenware giouvetsi, discarding the cinnamon stick and allspice. 2 min Ready when: lamb and sauce arranged in baking dish
7. Scatter the uncooked kritharaki evenly around the meat, toss to coat in the remaining 30 ml of olive oil, and pour in the remaining 700 ml of boiling water seasoned with a teaspoon of salt. 2 min Ready when: orzo submerged in spiced liquid
8. Bake uncovered in the oven for about twenty minutes, stirring the pasta gently once halfway through to prevent sticking, until the orzo is plump and juicy with some sauce still surrounding it. 20 min · 180°C / 355°F Ready when: orzo tender with saucy glaze remaining
9. Scatter the grated kefalograviera generously over the top and rest the dish out of the oven for ten minutes before serving so the pasta absorbs the resting juices. 10 min Ready when: cheese melted and juices settled

Tap a step to tick it off.

Make ahead and storing

The lamb can be braised in sauce a day ahead; bring to a simmer before adding orzo and baking.

Keep in the fridge for up to 3 days; reheat with a splash of hot water as orzo continues to drink liquid.

Substitutions

• beef chuck or shin for lamb shoulder. Beef giouvetsi (moschari giouvetsi) is equally traditional across mainland households.
• mizithra, graviera, or pecorino for kefalograviera cheese. Any firm, dry, salty grating cheese complements the sweet spiced tomato pasta.

Common mistakes

• Baking the orzo until completely bone-dry in the oven. Kritharaki continues to absorb moisture even after leaving the oven; take it out while it still looks slightly saucy.
• Boiling the orzo separately in water first. Orzo must swell directly inside the seasoned meat stock to develop authentic rich flavour.

Regional variants

• Giouvetsi with hilopites (traditional egg pasta squares) instead of orzo
• Epirote style with diced leeks braised along with the meat

About the dish

Giouvetsi takes its name from the traditional Ottoman earthenware cooking dish (güveç) in which meats were slow-baked with grain. Across Greece, it became the benchmark Sunday family feast, historically prepared at home and carried to the neighbourhood bakery's communal wood oven to bake after the morning bread was drawn. Succulent chunks of bone-in lamb or beef are braised in an aromatic tomato, cinnamon, and allspice sauce before orzo (kritharaki) is introduced to swell in the rich pan juices, crowned with salty grated cheese.

Found in all of Greece. Cooked for sunday lunch, everyday.

Cousins elsewhere

• Güveç (Turkish). Named after the earthenware pot, though the Turkish preparation is typically a vegetable and meat stew without pasta.
• Đuveč (Balkan). Balkan casserole baked in a clay dish, typically using rice rather than orzo.

Nutrition per serving (estimate)

983 kcal · protein 51.5 g · fat 55 g (saturated 21.4 g) · carbohydrate 65.2 g (sugars 7.3 g) · fibre 4.7 g · sodium 429 mg

An estimate (summed from ingredient estimates) that varies with the exact ingredients. It is not dietary advice.

Written fresh by Epikouria editors from general culinary tradition. Recipe by the Epikouria editors. Pan-Hellenic Sunday dinner culture, originally baked in communal village ovens..

Products for this dish