Lamb in Parchment with Vegetables and Feta
Easter Recipes Cheese Lamb Greek
A moment of madness: Kleftiko. This is how the Greek bandits prepared lamb. They prepared it covered, in a pit with embers, so the fire wouldn't be seen and the smell wouldn't be detected, so they couldn't be tracked. Ingenious and very tasty. At home, I simulated the ember pit with a parchment paper packet. The lamb melts in your mouth, and the aromas of lemon, feta and green pepper drove me crazy for 3 hours. They filled the whole house. I wouldn't have made it as a bandit, they would have definitely found me before I could taste the roast 😊
To those of you celebrating Easter now, I wish you all the best, I rejoice with you the way I know best - with good food and positive thoughts.
Ingredients
750g lamb leg (boneless, from a bone-in leg of approx. 1.2 kg)
2 small onions (about 50g each)
4 large garlic cloves
1 light green kapia pepper (or 3 Bulgarian semi-hot peppers)
10 cherry tomatoes
5 medium red potatoes (or starchy white potatoes to naturally thicken the sauce in the pan)
1 medium lemon
3 teaspoons dried oregano
1 good pinch of cinnamon
150g sheep's feta cheese
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
parsley and mint (or dill)
salt, black pepper
Servings: 4
How to prepare lamb in parchment with vegetables and feta
- Clean the leg of fat and membranes. Debone the leg and cut the meat into large pieces (about 6-8 cm). Squeeze the lemon (you need about 50 ml juice). Cut the remaining peels into large pieces. Cut the onion into not too thin half-rings. Peel the garlic. Peel the potatoes and cut into large pieces (4-6 pieces per potato). Cut the tomatoes in half. Clean the stems from the pepper and cut into large pieces.
- Put the meat in a bowl, sprinkle with a little salt, black pepper, cinnamon and 2 crushed garlic cloves. Massage well with these seasonings. Add half of the lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of oil and mix.
- In another bowl put the onion rings and the remaining 2 garlic cloves and sprinkle with a little salt. Let it sit for 10 minutes. Add the rest of the lemon juice and let it sit for another 5 minutes. Add the pepper, tomatoes, 2 tablespoons of oil and 1 teaspoon of oregano. Gently mix the vegetables.
- Sprinkle the potato cubes with a little salt, drizzle with 2 tablespoons of oil and 1 teaspoon of oregano. Mix.
- In a wide baking tray, place 2 pieces of parchment paper large enough to cover the bottom and come up the sides.
- Put the vegetables on the bottom of the tray. Spread the potatoes on top. Over the potatoes, arrange the pieces of meat, pushing them gently to settle well among the potatoes. Around the edge of the tray, insert the lemon peels.
- Break the feta into pieces and scatter over the meat and potatoes. Sprinkle another teaspoon of oregano on top.
- Pull the parchment paper over the meat, push the edges down, thus sealing the meat in this improvised packet. If necessary, add more parchment paper on top to make sure everything is well closed (the meat will cook in its own juices and it's absolutely essential that the steam doesn't escape from the packet).
- Bake at 150°C for 3 hours. After 1.5 hours, if you peek into the packet you'll see that a lot of juice has collected under the meat (be careful to reseal the packet well if you open it during the 3 hours).
- Open the packet after this time (check that the meat falls apart easily with a fork, otherwise leave it closed in the oven longer) and sprinkle with finely chopped parsley and mint. It's best served immediately but also good reheated (reheat in the oven).
All ingredients layered in the tray
Sealing the packet well
Peeking inside after 1.5 hours
Opening the packet after 3 hours
Checking that the meat is properly done
