Kleftiko literally translates from Greek as "stolen meat". Legend has it that the dish came to us since the occupation of Greece by the Ottoman Empire, hungry Greeks illegally mined meat, smeared it with salt and spices and buried it in the ground, and made a fire on top to bake it.
When the danger of being caught receded, the meat was dug up and eaten. Thanks to the long simmering, the meat turned out to be incredibly tender and soft.
Another version of the origin of this dish sounds like this: as if the Greek shepherds were quietly stealing a lamb, pickling it and burying it under a fire so that the owner of the herd would not discover the loss. The owner was told that the lamb had been killed by a wolf or other predatory animal.
Currently, the cooking technology of the dish has undergone changes - vegetables and feta cheese have been added to the meat, and for baking the dish does not need to be buried anywhere. Traditionally, kleftiko in Greek taverns is cooked in an oven, but a regular oven will do at home.
There are possibilities for cooking from various meats: lamb kleftiko is made from lamb, cotopulo kleftiko is made from chicken meat.
For lamb kleftiko for 4 servings you will need:
• lamb - 1 kg (you can take only the pulp, it can be on the bone, or ribs - who loves what)
• potatoes - 4-5 medium tubers
• carrots - 2 pieces
• feta or fetax cheese - 100 grams
• olive oil - two tablespoons
• spices and salt to taste
Cooking method
Rinse the meat, dry with a towel and cut into large pieces, the size of the palm. Peel the potatoes, cut into 4-6 pieces, peel the carrots and cut into thick slices. Put all the ingredients in one bowl, season and salt a little (it is better to leave the dish a little undersalted, since salted feta cheese will be added to it), pour olive oil and stir. Be sure to cut the ingredients into large pieces, otherwise you will get porridge instead of kleftiko.
Next, we take the foil, fold it in several layers, form 4 bags. Put meat and vegetables in each bag, evenly distributing the products. Put a piece of feta cheese on top, tie the bags tightly, put on a baking sheet and send to the oven preheated to 200 ° C. At this temperature, the dish is cooked for half an hour. Then you need to pour water at room temperature on a baking sheet, reduce the temperature in the oven to 150 ° C and cook for another 2 hours, adding water so that it does not evaporate, otherwise the bags will burn tightly to the baking sheet.
The dish can be served on its own with dry red or homemade wine.
