"Kleftiko" with goat's cheese
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  • Serves: 6
  • Complexity: medium

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 kg leg of lamb or goat, with the fat trimmed, whole or cut into cubes
  • 250g feta, cut into cubes
  • 300g goat's cheese
  • 4 tbsp butter, melted
  • 4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
  • 2 cups tomatoes, peeled and chopped
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 6 pieces of parchment paper

Directions

    1. Salt and pepper the meat, add garlic and wine and leave overnight, covered in the fridge. 

    2. The next day, preheat the oven to 170°C. Add the tomato and cheeses to the meat and mix. 

    3. Grease the parchment paper pieces with butter and make small pouches of meat with them. Place in a baking dish with some water in it. Bake for 2 1/2 hours and leave to cool. Serve by inside the paper pouches. 

Tips

Lamb kleftiko is a rustic, traditional Greek recipe made with slow cooked lamb, first marinated in garlic, olive oil and lemon juice. This traditional recipe was originally cooked in an earth oven, a simple pit in the ground, used to trap heat and smoke. Lamb ‘kleftiko’ literally means lamb ‘stolen’. This name is said to originate from the Klephts who would steal lamb or goats and cook the meat in hidden underground ovens in order to seal the flavors and smells and avoid being caught! (source: http://www.mygreekdish.com/)

If using a whole leg of lamb, add plenty of salt and pepper, make small cuts on the surface, and place garlic and cheese pieces inside the cuts. Then pour tomato over it and wrap in buttered parchment paper for baking.