Lamb Stifado with Kritharaki

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1 kg lamb (shoulder)
• 500 g onion(s), small
• 6 tbsp olive oil
• ¼ liter red wine
• 2 garlic cloves
• 3 bay leaves
• 2 stalk(s) cinnamon
• 3 carnations
• 400 ml Lamb stock
• 6 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp tomato paste or 2-3 fresh, peeled, seeded, chopped tomatoes
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• ½ tsp thyme
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• salt and pepper
• 400 g pasta (Greek Kritharaki)
• olive oil
• Salt

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Rest time approx. 3 hours; Total time approx. 4 hours

(Lamb ragout according to Miranda)

Rinse the lamb thoroughly and pat dry. Carefully trim the fat and cut the meat into bite-sized, not too large pieces. Mix the wine with the olive oil, cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, and cloves to make a marinade. Peel and finely chop the garlic and add it to the marinade. Marinate the meat for at least three hours (preferably overnight). Drain the marinated meat, reserving the marinade, and fish out the spices, then set aside. Heat the olive oil in a roasting pan and sear the meat on all sides. Deglaze with the lamb stock and the marinade. Add the spices from the marinade, tomato paste, and vinegar. Cover and simmer for 1 hour on the lowest possible heat. After 30 minutes, add 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon powder. Peel the small onions and stir in after 30 minutes. Simmer for at least another 45 minutes; the onions should remain whole and become completely soft. Now stir in the thyme. Then add the kritharaki to boiling salted water with olive oil and cook for about 12-14 minutes, drain the water, and briefly refresh the pasta. Season the stifado with salt and pepper – and it’s done. Spoon the kritharaki and the ragù into large pasta bowls and serve. Rice or potatoes also go well with it, of course, and okra or green beans are also good vegetables. I got the recipe from Miranda, a young woman who ran a hotel with her husband in a small Greek village and cooked for her guests herself. At first, Jakobus and Miranda’s hotel was the only one… “Of course, there are different ways to make stifado,” Miranda always said, “but with lamb (Greek: arní or arnáki), the flavor of the meat harmonizes best with the cinnamon.” In Greek restaurants in Germany, stifado is usually very salty – like everything else – and that, in my opinion, spoils everything. You should be very careful with the salt here and not add any salt to the marinade. – Okra is a green bean-like vegetable that looks like small peppers and is often used in Greek cuisine. Kritharaki is also available in Italy, where it’s called rissoni.