Decadent Lamb and Orzo Stew

By Claudine Noppe

 I firmly believe that when it’s cold and you are going through a tough time, you need bowl food. I mean food that all goes in the one bowl. Food that you can eat with a spoon. Food that warms you from the outside in. Real comfort food.

This dish is made with some cubed stewing lamb (from the leg), orzo and red wine. Orzo is an Italian/ Greek commodity made with a mixture of semolina and white flour. It is also typically called pasta rice as it resembles large grains of rice but is made with the same ingredients as pasta. It is traditionally used in soups and salads. I usually prepare my orzo like a risotto by adding liquid little by little bit, but generally it is cooked exactly like pasta.

The stew is ridiculously moreish as the lamb cooks until spoon tender and then the orzo just soaks up all the goodness inside the sauce! It’s the type of dish you want to eat on the couch when you’re in pj’s and wrapped in blankets. It also pairs well with a few glasses of red wine. For the extra antioxidants *wink wink*.

I based this recipe on a dish that Rick Stein made while travelling from Venice to Istanbul. He was in a kitchen with an old lady in a small town in Greece. The yia yia (Greek Granny), cooked on an open flame and used a big wok-like pot. Her version started off with onions and peppers and then chicken pieces were added. She also used about a liter of olive oil! Instead of orzo she used some broken little pieces of pasta. The base of the dish with red wine, oregano and tomato just screams lamb to me and I had to try it. 

Click here for the downloadable recipe

Ingredients:

Serves 4 – 6

·         500 g stewing lamb cubes

·         2 tablespoons olive oil

·         1 leek, finely sliced (alternatively you could use an onion,
I just prefer the sweetness of a leek)

·         1 large red pepper, diced

·         2 cloves of garlic, minced

·         1 tablespoon tomato paste

·         1 teaspoon dried oregano 

·         1 cinnamon stick

·         125 ml of good quality red wine
(if you wouldn’t drink it, don’t put it in your food)

·         125 ml tomato passata (or tinned, chopped tomatoes)

·         500 ml beef stock

·         250 ml orzo (I added 125 ml at first, but it was not enough!)

·         Salt and pepper

·         Parmesan and fresh basil to serve

Method:

1. As with 90% of stew recipes, this one starts with browning the meat. My lamb was very lean so I browned it in one tablespoon of olive oil. Remember to salt the meat heavily on both sides!

2. Once the meat is nice and caramelized, remove it from the pot and start sautéing your leeks and red pepper on a low heat. I added the other tablespoon of olive oil here.

3. When the peppers are soft, add the garlic, tomato paste and oregano and sauté for a few seconds. 

4. Deglaze the pan with the wine and then add the passata, stock, cinnamon stick and the browned meat. Simmer on a low heat for one and a half hours, or until your lamb is tender.

5. Add the orzo and reduce the heat even more. The orzo needs about 15 minutes to become el dente. Stir the stew every few minutes; orzo tends to stick to the bottom of the pot easily! Taste and adjust your seasonings.

6. Serve piping hot with some grated parmesan, fresh basil and heaps of black pepper!