If you’ve been reading along for a while now, you’ll be impressed to know my original Römertopf baker is still going.
It’s pretty battered these days – there’s a crack in the glaze and lots of chips around the rim, but it refuses to die. And after 11 years of faithful service, I’d feel disloyal replacing it with a newer model. It doesn’t come out of the dishwasher quite as cleanly these days, but it’s still pretty good.
A few weeks ago, I dragged it out and made a cheat’s version of my bonus wife Mary’s Kritharaki sto fourno. It’s the easiest dish ever in the Romy, and I absolutely adore the flavours, although both Pete and Small Man find it a bit rich. That’s not a problem because it means more for me! This dish freezes particularly well and makes the best comfort food lunch, so last week I made another batch, just to portion up for the freezer.
Interestingly, Mary’s version only uses salt, pepper, olive oil, stock and tinned tomatoes for seasoning – no herbs or spices or other fancy ingredients. She insists you have to use Greek rice shaped pasta, but staying at home meant not driving around delis to look for it, so I substituted giant couscous that I found in the fridge. Oh, and the olive oil is very important for flavouring – use the best you have. My bonus wife brought me back a bottle from Sparta, which complemented the flavours perfectly!
Mary makes her version in the oven, braising the lamb first before concentrating the cooking liquid and adding the pasta. I was far too lazy for that, so here’s how I made it…
Step 1: soak the Romy in a sink of cold water for 15 – 20 minutes.
Step 2: into the wet base, pour in half a packet of small pasta, then lay two fat lamb shanks on top. Season with salt and pepper and olive oil, then add a tin of chopped tomatoes, a tin of water and about 500ml of chicken stock (or veg stock). I didn’t think to measure anything, sorry, so these are just guesstimates. Just splosh in a generous amount of oil and a good pinch of both the salt and pepper.
Step 3: put the lid on and place the pot into a cold oven. Turn the heat up to 200C with fan. Go do something else for two hours.
Step 4: take the pot out carefully and place it on a folded tea towel so that it doesn’t crack from thermal shock. Remove lid and decide if it needs more time or liquid. If the meat is tender and the pot is looking a bit soupy, just cover it back up and let it rest a while to let the pasta get properly fat and squishy.
Step 5: pull the meat off the shanks with two forks, then tuck in. Freeze any leftovers in single serves because you won’t want to share!
I reckon you could just as easily make this in a casserole dish or dutch oven, but for some reason, things always taste better in our clay baker. I think it might actually love me.
Hope you’re all well and staying safe and happy! ♥
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 