Recipe: Lamb giouvetsi baked in the oven - Argiro.gr

Instructions

Pat the lamb thoroughly dry with paper towels.
In a deep pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat and sear the lamb for 3 minutes on each side.
Brown the pieces in batches until golden all over.
Once all the meat is seared, add the scored onions and sauté, stirring, for 3 minutes.
Add the smashed garlic and sauté for 1 minute, then add the tomato paste and scrape the bottom of the pot.
Cook the tomato paste for 1 minute.
Deglaze with the wine and let it reduce to one-third of its volume.
Add the crushed fresh tomatoes and 1 liter (4 cups) of hot water.
Add the bay leaf and allspice.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium.
Cover and simmer for about 1 hour until the meat is tender.
Toward the end of cooking, season with salt and pepper. Add a pinch of sugar if needed.
Once the lamb is cooked, remove the bay leaf, allspice, and the onions, which will have almost dissolved.

If simmered over medium heat, the lamb will be very tender with plenty of sauce to cook the pasta in.
In a wide pot or deep skillet, heat the olive oil and add the pasta, stirring with a wooden spoon to coat every grain in oil. Transfer to a deep roasting pan.
Place the lamb on top of the pasta and slowly ladle over the sauce, which should cover it by about 3 cm (1 inch) above.

Bake in a well-preheated oven at 160°C (320°F), using the heating elements (not fan), on the lower rack, for about 25 minutes. Stir the pasta halfway through baking.
At the end, sprinkle with kefalotiri and turn off the oven.
Leave the dish to rest for 3 minutes in the switched-off oven.
As soon as you remove it from the oven, place 3-4 ice cubes on the surface and shake the pan gently. This will immediately stop the boiling and keep the pasta moist and separate.
Allow to rest for 5-10 minutes, then serve immediately while hot and juicy.

The correct water-to-pasta ratio is 1:3 (1 part kritharaki to 3 parts water).
Avoid using the fan setting when baking. It will dry out and form a crust on the surface of the dish quickly.
You may use canned tomatoes when fresh tomatoes are not in season. Avoid tomato juice – opt for diced or whole peeled tomatoes instead.
Do not skip the garlic. It sweetens the giouvetsi – it simply isn’t the same without it.
Remove the giouvetsi from the oven while it is still very juicy. You do not need to add water to the kritharaki, but you do need to prepare a rich sauce with the lamb in the pot. Only add a small amount of water if needed or if it evaporates during a vigorous boil.
Simmer the meat over medium heat so the sauce does not lose its moisture.
Coating the kritharaki in oil will waterproof the pasta and keep the grains separate at the end.

You can bake the giouvetsi using the residual heat method.
Preheat your oven to its highest setting, using the heating elements.
Stir the pasta into the sauce.
Place the dish in the oven and after 5 minutes, switch the oven off. Do not open the oven door for 20 minutes.
Open, stir the kritharaki quickly, close the oven again and leave for another 10 minutes. The kritharaki will come out perfectly al dente and very juicy. The baking vessel must not be thick ceramic, and the dish must go into the oven piping hot from the pot so that boiling begins immediately.