Kleftico

1 (4 lb.) boneless leg of lamb or 8 shoulder lamb chops
8 sm. carrots, cut in half
8 sm. white onions
8 sm. stalks celery, cut into 20-inch pieces
8 sm. potatoes, peeled, halved, and buttered with
4 tbsp. butter
3 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp. dried oregano
1 tbsp. dried mint
8 slivers garlic
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4.

If using leg of lamb, cut meat into eight 4 to 5-inch serving pieces. Make incisions in meat and insert slivers of garlic. Place each piece of meat on a large square of heavy-duty aluminium foil. Distribute the vegetables evenly among the eight packets. Add a few drops of lemon juice, salt, pepper, oregano, and mint. Fold the foil in double fold at top and seal like a package. Arrange packages close together in a baking pan and bake 1-1/2 to 2 hours. Serve each foil package, sealed, on dinner plate and let each guest open his own.

Variation: Other vegetables can be used, such as 4 small courgettes, cut up; 4 ripe tomatoes, quartered; 4 green peppers, cut into eighths; 2 medium aubergines, peeled and cubed; 8 artichoke hearts, or 8 whole large mushrooms.

Comments from Lisa Feinson :

Apparently this means ‘robber lamb’. When bandits hid in the hills, so the story goes, the lamb was cooked wrapped up tightly so the smell of the cooking meat wouldn’t give their hiding places away.

Note:
You could alternatively just cook the whole lot in a casserole with a really tight fitting lid if you cannot be bothered with all this 8 bits of stuff business!

User Reviews:

i used a half shoulder of south down lamb that was hung for ten days i then coated it with olive oil crused garlic cut some holes and put in some black olive covered with rosemary and cooked on the bbq on a low heat for one and a half hours it was superb

Submitted by norman boxall on December 08, 2003

I used two lamb shanks (whole) and cooked these for 4 hours @150C in a cast iron casserole dish with a close fitting lit. I added a glass of dry white wine at the start. Just try not to peek while it's cooking!

Submitted by Chris Robinson on December 06, 2003

I liked this recipe but you really need to cook for about 4 hours on 150 c for the meatr to really fall of the bone, I added sweet potatoe, squash and parsnips which was great!

Submitted by Jason Whittam on December 02, 2003

View all 4 reviews of this recipe.

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