Agnello Kleftiko

Kleftiko Lamb is a traditional Greek dish, which involves slow cooking the lamb tightly wrapped, to keep its juices and ensure that the meat becomes very tender. Here is a recipe with an Italian twist.

Ingredients

• 1 kg lamb shoulder, preferably bone-in
• 2 large potatoes, cut into wedges
• 1 red onion, sliced
• 4 cloves of garlic, left whole or crushed
• Juice of one lemon
• 200 ml of meat or vegetable broth
• Fresh or dried oregano, to taste
• 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
• Sea salt and black pepper, to taste
• Extra virgin olive oil

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 160 °C.
2. Season the lamb by generously sprinkling it with salt, pepper, oregano, and rosemary. Massage the meat with the spices and extra virgin olive oil.
3. Brown the lamb shoulder in a large skillet until golden on all sides, then transfer it to a baking dish.
4. In the same oil used to brown the lamb, sauté the onion and garlic until they become translucent. Add the potato wedges and sauté for a few minutes.
5. Arrange the sautéed ingredients around the meat in the baking dish and add the lemon juice and broth.
6. Cover everything with a sheet of parchment paper and then seal with aluminum foil, making the wrap as airtight as possible.
7. Cook in the preheated oven for about 4 hours or until the lamb becomes very tender and easily pulls away from the bone.
8. Remove the foil and cook for another 15 minutes to brown the lamb’s surface.

An Italian tip is to finish with a sprinkle of freshly chopped aromatic herbs before serving.

Curiosity

The name “Kleftiko” refers to “kleftis”, cattle thieves who cooked the meat in secret pits to prevent the smoke from being seen and thus avoid detection. The long, low-temperature cooking represents this pit cooking method.