Kritharaki minced meat pan with zucchini, tomatoes and fennel-lemon yogurt

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 300 g Kritharaki (rice-shaped noodles)
• 550 g minced beef
• 500 g zucchini
• 2 m.-large onion(s), red
• 300 g tomatoes
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1,000 ml beef broth
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 4 tsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp paprika powder, sweet
• 2 tsp gyro seasoning
• 1 tbsp dill, dried
• ¾ tsp coriander seeds
• 30 g fat (beef fat/beef tallow), refined
• e.g. salt and pepper
• 200 g Greek yogurt
• 20 ml lemon juice
• ½ tsp ground fennel seeds
• ⅛ tsp salt
• 1 pinch(s) of sugar

Instructions

Working time approx. 20 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 50 minutes

Wash the zucchini, remove the stems and flower ends. Then quarter the rest lengthwise and then cut into not too thin slices. Peel and dice the onions, wash the tomatoes, remove the stems, and roughly dice the tomatoes. Peel and finely chop the garlic. Heat the fat in a roasting pan or large, deep frying pan and sear the minced meat for about 2-3 minutes over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium, add the onions, garlic, and coriander seeds to the minced meat, and sauté for about 3-4 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, then add the zucchini and fry everything briefly. Then add the fresh tomatoes and paprika and stir to combine. Now pour in the beef broth, add the red wine vinegar, and the gyro seasoning mix, and bring everything to a boil. Sprinkle in the kritharaki, stir to combine, and then cover and simmer over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Then add the dried dill, stir the contents of the pan, and let it cook with the lid on for another 5-6 minutes. Finally, season with salt and pepper. In the meantime, prepare the yogurt dip. To do this, mix the yogurt with lemon juice and ground fennel seeds until smooth and season with salt and a pinch of sugar. Notes and tips: You can, of course, also use fresh or frozen dill towards the end, but use less, as otherwise the fresh, green aroma will overpower. Instead of whole coriander seeds, you can of course also use (more) ground powder, which you then add to the dish later together with the dill. However, the whole seeds give off a stronger aroma than the powder when you bite into them while eating, so this small amount of whole seeds is sufficient. You can, of course, use other fats instead of beef suet, but beef suet gives the dish an even more intense beef flavor.