Lamb Baked with Orzo Pasta, Tomatoes, and Lemon

This one-pot dish of lamb baked with orzo pasta, tomatoes, and lemon from Malouf is actually a very traditional Greek meal, called arni giouvetsi or youvetsi. The lamb is baked in a light, lemony tomato sauce, with a little hint of warming spices, then the pasta is added to the stew until it absorbs most of the sauce and becomes quite tender.

I first made Malouf's lamb dish about a year and a half ago, at the same dinner party for which I made Malouf's risotto with zucchini, prawn, and preserved lemon. The problem is, this orzo bake is so delicious I've never managed to get a photo of the finished dish.

The prep time looks long because it includes the hour it will take to trim and cut down the boneless lamb leg into bite-sized pieces, followed by the minimal active time it will take to brown the lamb pieces (you can start this as you trim), mince the onion and garlic, and get the stew going. If you buy already trimmed slices of boneless lamb sirloin, you'll save a significant amount of prep time. Bite-sized pieces of lamb are browned lightly, a base of flavor is developed with softened onions, garlic, and coriander, followed by the addition of paprika, honey, pieces of preserved lemon rind, tomato, chicken broth, cinnamon sticks and lemon juice. The stew is brought to a boil, then baked in the oven with the lid on for about 2 hours, until the lamb is quite tender. Orzo pasta (ideally, but another short pasta will do in a pinch) is added to the pot, then the lid is removed and the pasta cooks in the delicious stew broth until it swells in size and is also tender. To this ultra-comforting lamb and pasta bake, I highly recommend slices of pan-fried halloumi, but grated halloumi or crumbled feta would also be quite scrumptious.

Lamb Baked with Orzo, Tomatoes, and Preserved Lemon

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Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Mediterranean

Prep Time: 1 hour hour 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 3 hours hours 40 minutes minutes

Total Time: 4 hours hours 50 minutes minutes

Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 6 lb (2-¾ kg) boneless lamb leg, hard fat removed, cut into evenly-sized 1.5 inch (4 cm) pieces about 4 lb (1-⅘ kg) meat after fat-trimming
• Kosher salt
• Black pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 large onions diced
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 teaspoon freshly-ground coriander
• Kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1-½ medium preserved lemons rind only, rinsed and patted dry, roughly chopped (about ⅓ cup chopped)
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 long red chilies seeded, scraped, and roughly chopped or ½ teaspoon chili flakes plus ½ teaspoon Aleppo pepper flakes
• 2 cans (454 grams each) tomato purée or whole tomatoes don't used diced tomatoes
• ½-1 liter (2-4 cups)* chicken stock
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• juice of one lemon
• 454 grams orzo pasta
• 150 grams haloumi cheese sliced
• Optional: green salad to serve alongside

Instructions

• Drizzle olive oil into a wide frying pan set over medium (4/10 heat). Season the lamb pieces with a sprinkle of the kosher salt and pepper, then taking about one-quarter of the pieces at a time (so they fit in the frying pan in a single layer without crowding), sauté until lightly browned on all sides. Once each portion is browned, set off to the side in a heavy-bottomed, 4.5-6 quart Dutch oven**.
• When all the lamb is browned and resting to the side in the Dutch oven, Preheat the oven to 325°F/160°C, adjusting the rack(s) to the bottom and  middle. The rack in the middle of the oven needs enough room above it to hold the covered Dutch oven.
  
• Add the tablespoon olive oil, diced onions, garlic, ground coriander to the frying pan (no need to clean it between lamb and onions). Stirring occasionally, cook over gentle heat until the onions soften, about 20 minutes. Add the sweet paprika, preserved lemon, honey, and chilies, and continue to stir over the heat another 1-2 minutes.
• Pour the spiced onion mixture over the lamb pieces in the Dutch oven and stir well to distribute. Pour in the tomatoes, then the chicken broth*, using a little of the broth to "rinse out" the tomato cans of any clinging tomato stuck to the bottom. The meat should be just covered by the liquid. Add the cinnamon sticks and lemon juice, then stir carefully to combine.
• Place the Dutch oven over high heat and bring the liquid to a boil. As soon as the liquid boils, cover the Dutch oven, then place it in the pre-heated oven. Cook for 2-2-½ hours, checking occasionally (every hour-ish) to ensure the meat is still covered by liquid and adding more chicken broth (or water) if it is not.
  
• Remove the Dutch oven from the oven, remove the lid, and pour in the uncooked orzo pasta. Stir to combine, then return the pot to the oven (uncovered) for another 25 minutes, at which point the orzo should be very tender.
  
• Ten to fifteen minutes after adding the orzo, slice the halloumi and fry it (you can use the same frying pan or a smaller one) until golden brown on both sides, about 5 minutes per side.
  
• If necessary, add a little more chicken broth to the lamb bake to loosen up the sauce (I've never needed to do this, but it will depend on your Dutch oven size I think).
• Serve the lamb baked with orzo immediately, with a couple slices of the sliced fried halloumi on top of each serving, along with green salad on the side.
  

Notes

*depending on the size Dutch oven you have, you may not be able to add all 4 cups of chicken stock. My 4.5 quart Dutch oven will only hold 2.5 cups.

**Select a Dutch oven (or oven-safe pot) that has a lid.