Kleftiko recipe

Lamb sealed in a parcel and cooked for hours without ever being opened, the way the klephts hid their cooking fire from the Ottomans.

17 hourseasy10 ingredients

Ingredients

• 1500 g lamb shoulder on the bone
• 800 g potatoes
• 6 clove garlic
• 1 lemon
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 onion
• 100 ml white wine
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 pinch salt and black pepper

How to make Kleftiko

1. The night before, rub 1.5 kg of bone-in lamb shoulder with the juice of 1 lemon, 4 tbsp of olive oil, 6 sliced garlic cloves, 2 tsp of dried oregano, 1 tsp of salt and 1 tsp of pepper. Refrigerate covered.
2. Heat the oven to 150 °C. Cut 800 g of potatoes into large chunks and 1 onion into wedges.
3. Lay a large double sheet of baking parchment on top of a sheet of foil. Put the lamb in the middle with the potatoes, onion, 3 bay leaves and 100 ml of white wine.
4. Fold the parchment over and crimp it closed, then wrap the whole thing tightly in the foil. Nothing must escape: this seal is the dish, not a convenience.
5. Cook 4 to 5 hours at 150 °C. Do not open the parcel at any point to check or baste.
6. Rest 15 minutes, then open it at the table. The meat is pale and falls off the bone; it is steamed in its own juices, so do not put it under the grill to brown.
7. Spoon the juices over the potatoes and pull the lamb apart with two forks.
8. In Cyprus this is baked in a wood-fired clay oven sealed with a flour-and-water paste, which adds a smoky note you cannot get in a home oven.

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