🍲 Youvetsi (Greek lamb and orzo bake)

Name: Youvetsi (Greek lamb and orzo bake)
Total time: 150 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Greece
Ingredients: 800 g lamb shoulder, cut into large pieces; 300 g orzo; 400 g chopped tomatoes and 1 tbsp tomato paste; 1 onion, chopped; 1 cinnamon stick; 2 tbsp olive oil; 800 ml hot water, salt, pepper; 60 g grated hard cheese

Origin: Greece

648kcal

per serving · 350 g

185kcal

per 100 g

38 gProtein11 g / 100 g

30 gFat8.5 g / 100 g

56 gCarbs16 g / 100 g

Youvetsi is a Greek baked dish of lamb slow-cooked in tomato sauce with cinnamon, then finished in the oven with orzo pasta that absorbs the rich juices. It is served bubbling hot, generously sprinkled with grated cheese. The lamb is tender, the orzo soft and saucy, and the cinnamon gives the tomato a warm, rounded flavour.

Diets

✓

No porkfor halal, the meat must be halal-slaughtered

Not vegetarianbecause of: lamb

Not veganbecause of: lamb, cheese

Contains glutenbecause of: orzo

Contains dairybecause of: cheese

Not keto16 g carbs per 100 g

Allergens

Contains (in a typical recipe):

⚠ Gluten ⚠ Milk

What it is made of

lamborzotomatocinnamoncheese

Recipe

4 servings150 min

Ingredients

800 g lamb shoulder, cut into large pieces
300 g orzo
400 g chopped tomatoes and 1 tbsp tomato paste
1 onion, chopped
1 cinnamon stick
2 tbsp olive oil
800 ml hot water, salt, pepper
60 g grated hard cheese

Method

Brown the lamb in the oil in a baking dish or pot, add the onion and cook until soft.
Add the tomatoes, paste, cinnamon, salt, pepper and 400 ml water; cover and bake at 180 °C for 1 hour 15 minutes until the lamb is tender.
Stir in the orzo and the remaining hot water and bake uncovered for 25–30 minutes, stirring once, until the orzo is soft.
Rest 5 minutes and serve sprinkled with cheese.

How to make it lighter

Trim the lamb well or use leg instead of shoulder for less fat.
Use half the cheese — 1 tbsp grated hard cheese is about 20–25 kcal.
Serve a measured 350 g portion with a large green salad.

History

The name comes from the giouvetsi, the clay baking dish it was traditionally cooked in, a word Greek shares with the Turkish güveç. Youvetsi is a classic Sunday and holiday dish in Greece, and in the past families often took the pot to the neighbourhood bakery to be baked in its oven.

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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →