Giouvetsi

Giouvetsi

Greek beef and orzo bake, one pot, 2 hr, serves 6

Ingredients

The stew
diced beef       1kg, shoulder or shin
red onions       2, finely chopped
carrots          2, sliced
chopped tomatoes 1 x 400g tin
tomato puree     2 tbsp
red wine         150ml
cinnamon stick   1
caster sugar     1 tsp
olive oil        4 tbsp
salt and pepper  to season

The pasta
orzo             500g
hot stock        about 1 litre
kefalotyri       100g, grated (or feta)

Orzo (kritharaki) is a rice shaped pasta. It cooks right in the sauce at the end, soaking up the flavour, so do not boil it separately.
Keep an eye on the liquid once the orzo goes in. It wants to be just covered and a little soupy, as it firms up as it sits.
Kefalotyri is the classic grating cheese. Feta crumbled over, or even halloumi, does the job.

Recipe

1. Pat the beef dry. Warm half the oil in the Dutch oven over medium low heat and soften the onions and carrots for 5 minutes.

2. Turn the heat up, push the veg aside, and brown the beef all over.

Dry meat and a hot pot. Crowd it and it stews instead of browning.

3. Stir in the tomato puree for a minute, pour in the wine, and let it bubble away.

4. Add the tomatoes, cinnamon, sugar, and enough water to just cover the meat. Season. Lid on, and simmer gently for about 45 minutes, until the beef is nearly tender.

5. Heat the oven to 160°C. Toast the orzo in the rest of the oil in a frying pan until golden, then stir it into the pot. Pour in enough hot stock to cover the orzo by a finger, about a litre.

Toasting the orzo first keeps the grains separate and nutty rather than gluey.

6. Lid on, into the oven for 30 minutes. Lid off, stir, add a splash more stock if it looks dry, and give it a final 15 minutes.

7. Rest a few minutes, pull out the cinnamon stick, and serve with the cheese grated over.

Source: My Greek Dish.