I love stuffed grape leaves but they are a bit fiddly to make. I recently made a dish with lamb and orzo which, while good, needed some tweeking to make it truly yummy. Last week L. bought grape leaves to make crisps for a lamb burger and I now have 1/2 a jar of those in my refrigerator begging to be used.
What do all of these things have in common? They are the root inspiration for this dish which I recommend. It was unusual and really quite delicious, though - despite the inspiration flavors - probably in no way Greek.
I am not a huge fan of cinnamon as Americans tend to overwhelm the palate when they use it but it does add a wonderful flavor to lamb.
1 lb ground lamb
1 shallot, finely diced
1/2 package grape leaves, stems removed
2 cups orzo, cooked al dente (reserve 2 Tbsps of the cooking water)
1 small wedge of feta
1/2 cup cream
1 Tbsp tomato paste
2 tsps Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsps flour
1 Tbsp water
Salt and pepper to taste
Cook your orzo according to the directions on the package. Drain and set aside, reserving two tablespoons of the cooking water.
Add the water, lamb, cinnamon and shallot to a skillet over medium heat. I find that lamb is rather fatty and try to avoid cooking it in extra fat. This method, with the tablespoon of water, will keep the meat from catching to the bottom of the pan as it cooks and will help the lamb to render all its fat. Cook, stirring from time to time, until the meat is brown and cooked through.
While the meat is cooking, preheat the oven to 350 and line a pie dish with grape leaves. Let any overlap hang down the outside of the dish. Roughly chop any grape leaves that remain after lining the dish.
When the meat is browned, pour off as much of the excess rendered fat as possible. Return the pan to the stove, lower the heat to low, and add the flour. Cook, stirring constantly until the lamb is coated in a floury paste and all liquid that remained after you roughly drained your meat is absorbed into the paste.
Add the tomato paste, the cream and the Worcestershire sauce and cook, stirring constantly, until the liquid has thickened. Season with salt and pepper.
Remove from the heat and stir in the feta, crumbled roughly, the orzo along with the cooking water that you set aside and the remaining chopped grape leaves. Mix well. Taste again for salt and add a bit more cinnamon if you feel that it is needed.
Spoon into the grape leaf lined pie dish. Smooth the surface and fold the edges of the grape leaves over the top.
Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven, cover with a plate and flip over gingerly. Remove the pie dish and you should be left with an impressive looking dish. Serve whole and cut into slices at the table.