GREEK LAMB, TOMATO & RISONI BAKE
One meal to serve the whole family!!
All four members of our family have this for dinner quite regularly.
It’s incredible to only serve one option for dinner.
You can substitute this with beef or chicken thighs if you don’t like lamb.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1/4 cup of olive oil
700 grams of lamb leg, largely diced
2x medium onions, finely diced
3x cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1x cinnamon stick
1x tablespoon of cinnamon powder
1x handful of oregano leaves (or 1x tablespoon of dried oregano)
2x tablespoon of tomato paste
1x 400g can of cherry tomatoes
1x cup of water
1x cup of chicken stock
2x large zucchini, washed and roughly chopped
1x cup of risoni pasta
1x extra cup of water
Greek or natural yoghurt to serve.
Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Place the chopped lamb in a small bowl, add tablespoons of olive oil and season well.
Heat olive oil in a large oven proof pot/pan. Add a good slug of olive oil to the pan. Add the onion and sauté for 2-3 mins until golden. Add the garlic and saute for a further 2 mins. Add the lamb pieces and stir through and cook for approx. 3-5 mins or until the lamb has browned.
Add the cinnamon stick and powder and stir through for 3 mins. Then add the fresh or dried oregano and stir for 2 mins. Add the tomato paste, tinned cherry tomatoes, stock and water and combine well. Then add the chopped zucchini. Season well.
Place in the oven (lid on) for 45 mins. You can give it a stir after 30 mins if you like. After 45 mins, take the lid off and cook for another 30 mins without the lid. After this time, add the risoni pasta and a little extra water or stock if the liquid has evaporated quite a bit. Cook for a further 20 mins and voila!!! Serve with yogurt.
The risoni will really soak up the water, so just keep an eye on it and add some water or stock if you feel it’s getting too dry.