I stumbled across this Greek delicacy when I was looking for regional soups and stews from around the world. This is a comforting rich stew with aromatic spices like cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg, cooked together with charred pearl onions, red wine and preserved lemon marinated lamb and beef. Traditionally this is served with potatoes but for this particular iteration I decided to put orzo into it and finished it with some chopped kale.
The sweetness of the onions play with the red wine and tomatoes to give you a very satisfying, hearty meal for the winter. I had decided that I wanted to make a lamb stew, but when purchasing said lamb, I decided to cut the cost a bit by incorporating chuck into the stew. In doing this I kept the lamb flavor, though not as forward as it would have been with 100% lamb, and was able to load it up with meat.
I have this recipe broken into two parts. The first part is the marinade for the meat. This is a really important step to impart the flavor into your soup. Making sure the meat you are using has a well established marinade, so that when you start the cooking process, you have a solid base flavor. For the stewing part, there aren't too many items, but it's also very important to sear the pearl onions. The sweet soft texture of the onions, paired with the aromatic spices and stewed tomatoes build this classic Greek dish.
This is a slightly modified rendition of a classic Greek meal. I cut the meat, added preserved lemon, kale, and orzo to make it fit into what I wanted. As always you can change it up, but you want to keept the classic part. The combination of pearl onions, stewed meat, and the hint of cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg all cooked together with red wine and tomatoes create the stifado.
Enjoy.
Ingredients
Marinade
Beef Chuck 3 lb
Lamb Chops 1 1/2 lb
Extra Virgin Olive Oil 1 T
Avenue Spice 1 T
Cinnamon, ground 1/2 tsp
Aleppo Pepper 1 tsp
Nutmeg, ground 1/2 tsp
Allspice, ground 1/2 tsp
White Pepper 1 T
Salt 1 T
Preserved Lemon, minced 2 tsp
Garlic, sliced 2 cloves
Red Wine 1/2 cup
Soup
Pearl Onions, peeled 24 oz
Chicken Stock 2 qt
Kale, chopped 1 bunch
Garlic, sliced 4 cloves
Tomatoes, chopped 36 oz
Cinnamon Stick 2 ea
Bay Leaves 4 ea
Red Wine 1/2 cup
Soy Sauce 1/4 cup
Salt & Pepper to taste
Orzo, cooked 2 oz per bowl
Method of Procedure
Mix your marinade ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
Cube up your beef and add your lamb chops to it. Pour the marinade over and coat thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate for at least 24 hours.
The next day, remove the meat and let stand for 20 minutes at room temperature. Sear on high heat in batches so that you don't overcrowd.
While searing peel your onions trying to keep them as whole as possible.
Once your meat is seared, let cool and cut the lamb from the bones. Reserve the bones to fortify the soup.
Sear your pearl onions adding your bay leaves, garlic, and cinnamon sticks to the pot.
Once you've charred them, add your beef and lamb then cook for about 10 minutes while stirring.
De-glaze the pan with your red wine and soy sauce. Add your chicken stock and chopped tomatoes.
Bring to a simmer and cook for 3 hours, until the meat is tender and the texture has reduced to your liking.
While the stew is stewing, cook your orzo.
Once you've gotten to your desired texture, add your chopped kale and cook for an additional 30 minutes.
Season to taste and serve with orzo.
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