Kleftiko

Lamb sealed so completely that nothing escapes for four hours, which is a different cooking method from roasting it.

Lamb. Not vegetarian — contains feta whose rennet the source does not name, lamb.

Ingredients

• 2 kg lamb shoulder, on the bone, in large pieces
• 1 whole head of garlic, cloves halved
• 3 tablespoons dried oregano
• 2 lemons, juiced, plus the squeezed halves
• 100 ml olive oil
• 4 bay leaves
• 600 g waxy potatoes, in large chunks
• 2 onions, in thick wedges
• 200 g feta, in large pieces
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• greaseproof paper and foil, or a lidded clay pot

Method

1. THE SEAL IS THE METHOD. This is not a slow roast: nothing evaporates, nothing browns, and the lamb cooks for four hours in steam made entirely of its own juices and the lemon. One gap in the parcel and the liquid leaves, the meat roasts instead, and the dish that comes out is a perfectly good roast shoulder that is not this.
2. SO IT IS NOT OPENED TO CHECK. Not at two hours, not at three. Every opening lets the steam out and costs more than it tells you. Trust the time.
3. Lamb cut into pieces the size of a fist, bone in. Deep slits cut into each and a halved garlic clove pushed into every one.
4. Tossed hard with the oregano, lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper, and left to marinate at least 2 hours or overnight. The acid is on raw lamb for a long time here, which is the opposite of the souvlaki rule -- it works because the four hours of steam far outlast anything the lemon did to the surface.
5. A large sheet of greaseproof on a sheet of foil. Potatoes and onions in the middle, lamb on top with all its marinade, bay leaves and the squeezed lemon halves tucked in.
6. Feta pushed down among the pieces.
7. THE PAPER FOLDED FIRST, then the foil over it, every edge rolled over twice. The paper stops the acid meeting the foil; the foil is what actually seals. Then the whole thing into a casserole with a lid, or a second layer of foil.
8. Oven to 160C. Four hours.
9. Out, and RESTED 20 MINUTES STILL SEALED.
10. Opened at the table, which is worth doing for the smell alone. There will be a surprising amount of liquid in the bottom.
11. The meat will come off the bone against a spoon. Served in the parcel with the potatoes and the juices, and nothing poured off.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Greece · All recipes