Greek cuisine · Meat & Kebab

Lamb with Hilopites

Lamb braised in a clay pot with tomato sauce, the hilopites egg pasta finished cooking directly in the broth.

Ingredients · for 4 servings

• 1 kg lamb shoulder (in pieces)
• 300 g hilopites (Greek egg pasta)
• 2 onions
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 can diced tomatoes (400 g)
• 150 ml red wine
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 bay leaves
• 5 tbsp olive oil
• 80 g kefalotyri (or pecorino)
• Salt, pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C, pat the lamb pieces dry and salt them, roughly dice the onions and chop the garlic.
2. Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven and brown the lamb in batches for 5 min. per side until deeply colored all over, then remove and sweat the onions in the same pot for 5 min. until soft.
3. Add the garlic and tomato paste, toast for 2 min., deglaze with the red wine and scrape the pan bottom completely clean.
4. Return the meat, add the diced tomatoes, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, pepper and 600 ml hot water, cover and braise in the oven for 75 min. until the lamb is tender.
5. Remove the cinnamon stick and bay leaves, stir in the hilopites and add more hot water if needed so the pasta is just covered; bake uncovered for another 20–25 min. until cooked and the broth has become creamy.
6. Let the pot rest for 10 min., sprinkle with grated kefalotyri and serve straight from the pot.