ΒΑΘΜΟΣ ΔΥΣΚΟΛΙΑΣ
εύκολο
ΧΡΟΝΟΣ
30'
ΑΤΟΜΑ
4
ΥΛΙΚΑ
- 1/2 goat shoulder, about 3 kilos
- caul fat to cover the goat shoulder
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 tbsp sun-dried tomato paste
- 2 small tomatoes cut into 4
- 2 spring onions
- 2 large vine leaves and vine shoots
- salt & pepper
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 2 dry onions finely chopped
- 6 fresh onions finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic finely chopped
- ½ pluck, blanched and finely chopped
- 500 g intestines, blanched and finely chopped
- zest of ½ lemon
- 400 g Carolina rice
- 1 cup sweet Muscat wine
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- salt & pepper
- 1 small bunch parsley, finely chopped
- ½ bunch fennel, finely chopped
- ¼ bunch mint, finely chopped
- ½ tsp ground allspice
- ½ stick cinnamon, 6 allspice berries
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 sacorafa (large needle)
- thread that doesn’t burn or 3–4 toothpicks
Περιγραφή
A festive Easter dish that requires many hours, skill, and a wood-fired oven in order to become “like loukoumi” (melt-in-the-mouth tender). It is the tastiest dish of the year for the greatest day of Orthodoxy. The lamb’s back is stuffed with finely chopped offal, rice, spices, wine, fresh herbs, and onion, and then baked covered for hours in the oven, in the most elaborate goat recipe in Greece.
Εκτέλεση
Start with the goat, scoring it with a sharp knife on the lower and back side of the shoulder. Slowly insert your hands inside to separate all the skin from the bones and create space. Rub the meat all over its surface with a piece of lemon.
For the stuffing: Put the onions, garlic, cinnamon stick, bay leaf, ground allspice, allspice berries, lemon peel, a little salt and 1 cup of water into a pot and let them steam for a few minutes until the liquids evaporate. Add the olive oil and sauté for 5 minutes, until the onions soften and take on color. Add the pluck and the intestines and continue sautéing for 1–2 minutes more. Add the rice, sauté it briefly until it turns glossy, then deglaze with the wine and let it evaporate for 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste, salt, pepper and 1/2 cup of water. Stir and let everything come to a boil so the rice absorbs the liquids. Remove the stuffing from the heat, add the herbs, stir and set aside until it cools. Remove the peel and the whole spices.
For the goat’s back: Sprinkle the goat with salt inside and out. Stand the back upright with the opening facing upwards and fill it with a spoon. Sew up the opening and lay it down in a roasting pan. Gently massage the back so the stuffing spreads evenly inside. Sprinkle the back with salt and pepper on all sides and return it to its original position. Mix the tomato paste with salt, pepper, the oil and a little water, brush it over the goat and cover with the caul fat. In a roasting pan place vine shoots and 2 spring onions, set the goat on top, add around it 4 cloves of garlic in their skins and 2 small tomatoes cut into quarters, place 2 large vine leaves on top of the caul fat, pour in 1 liter of water and cover with parchment paper and aluminum foil. Roast in a preheated oven at 220 °C for 1 hour and then at 180 °C for a further 2 hours. Check periodically whether additional liquid is needed. Remove the aluminum foil as soon as the meat begins to soften and leave the back to brown and crisp.
Serving suggestions: You can serve it with baked potatoes. You can put the potatoes in to roast together with the meat during cooking. Alternatively, when the back is ready, remove it from the baking pan and add orzo or spaghetti along with the appropriate amount of water, and continue cooking until the pasta is done.
For the stuffing: Put the onions, garlic, cinnamon stick, bay leaf, ground allspice, allspice berries, lemon peel, a little salt and 1 cup of water into a pot and let them steam for a few minutes until the liquids evaporate. Add the olive oil and sauté for 5 minutes, until the onions soften and take on color. Add the pluck and the intestines and continue sautéing for 1–2 minutes more. Add the rice, sauté it briefly until it turns glossy, then deglaze with the wine and let it evaporate for 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste, salt, pepper and 1/2 cup of water. Stir and let everything come to a boil so the rice absorbs the liquids. Remove the stuffing from the heat, add the herbs, stir and set aside until it cools. Remove the peel and the whole spices.
For the goat’s back: Sprinkle the goat with salt inside and out. Stand the back upright with the opening facing upwards and fill it with a spoon. Sew up the opening and lay it down in a roasting pan. Gently massage the back so the stuffing spreads evenly inside. Sprinkle the back with salt and pepper on all sides and return it to its original position. Mix the tomato paste with salt, pepper, the oil and a little water, brush it over the goat and cover with the caul fat. In a roasting pan place vine shoots and 2 spring onions, set the goat on top, add around it 4 cloves of garlic in their skins and 2 small tomatoes cut into quarters, place 2 large vine leaves on top of the caul fat, pour in 1 liter of water and cover with parchment paper and aluminum foil. Roast in a preheated oven at 220 °C for 1 hour and then at 180 °C for a further 2 hours. Check periodically whether additional liquid is needed. Remove the aluminum foil as soon as the meat begins to soften and leave the back to brown and crisp.
Serving suggestions: You can serve it with baked potatoes. You can put the potatoes in to roast together with the meat during cooking. Alternatively, when the back is ready, remove it from the baking pan and add orzo or spaghetti along with the appropriate amount of water, and continue cooking until the pasta is done.