Cypriot Orzo Yiouvetsi
This dish tastes best when cooked in a stoneware casserole, so if you have one available you will want to use it.
Serves: 4Hands-on: 20 minutesTotal: 1 hour 50 minutesDifficulty: Medium
Serves: 4
Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 lb. lean ground veal
- 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 garlic gloves, peeled and minced
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 4 cloves
- 1⁄2 tsp. salt
- 1⁄4 tsp. ground black pepper
- 4 cups beef stock
- 1 1⁄2 cups orzo pasta
- 1 tsp. butter
- 2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Heat olive oil in large sauce pan over medium heat; add veal and break up with wooden spoon. Sauté 5 to 8 minutes, stirring constantly, until thoroughly browned.
- Add onion, garlic, tomato sauce, cinnamon stick, cloves, salt, and pepper to saucepan with meat. Bring to a boil, stirring well; cover and simmer 15 minutes over medium-low heat.
- In separate pan, bring stock to boil; cover and reduce heat to low.
- When meat has cooked, remove cinnamon stick from pan. Add uncooked orzo pasta to hot beef stock for a couple stirs; add stock to pan with meat sauce. Stir to mix thoroughly.
- Butter sides and bottom of casserole; add yiouvetsi mixture. Bake uncovered 50 to 60 minutes, until liquid has been absorbed by pasta.
- Stir well with wooden spoon only once, at about 25-minute mark (making sure to get into corners of dish); let it cook undisturbed for remainder of time. Look for surface of yiouvetsi to form a crust-like top layer, especially near edges.
- Remove from oven and let sit for 15 minutes before serving. Garnish with Parmesan.