Slow cooked beef with risoni – Greek giouvetsi
Giouvetsi is a really popular Greek dish made with a spiced red sauce, risoni pasta and meat. What makes it so delicious is the fact that the meat is slow cooked in spices and falls completely apart. And of course who can say no to short cut pasta?
What’s in the name?
Giouvetsi, or also spelt yiouvetsi, is baked for some time so that the sauce develops and the meat becomes really tender. From the research the name derives from the Turkish word güveç. Güveç is the name given to the ceramic pots used commonly for slow cooking. A strong example of the influence the Ottoman Empire had on the countries it occupied centuries ago.
Common years ago was for families to take their clay pots and trays filled with food to be cooked at their local baker, who would have the wood fire ovens on from early in the morning. The food would cook over a few hours and then the families would gather to enjoy it, a typical Sunday lunch.
Giouvetsi is not necessarily always cooked in those type of dishes but it was frequently done so in the olden days. Nowadays when you mention the word giouvetsi, it’s almost always thought of as the dish with risoni and a type of meat, not so much the process of cooking.
Meat to use
This giouvetsi recipe uses slow cooked beef and the ideal pieces are chuck steak or gravy beef. There are also versions of giouvetsi with chicken pieces, seafood (e.g. octopus), lamb pieces or even mince. The recipe below may be used for lamb pieces (lamb shoulder cut in chunks or lamb shanks) but the method for the other variations is different. The recipe for risoni with mince meat is already on the blog.
Top tips
The recipe basically follows a method whereby you place all the ingredients in a baking dish and let the oven do all the cooking. However there are some important points I wanted to make to ensure you end up in risoni that is not overcooked and that the sauce thickens nicely.
1. Cut the chuck steak in smaller pieces so that the beef requires slightly less time in the oven.
2. The beef needs to be lightly fried first before placed in the sauce, so that the fat is rendered. That will add to the flavour of the dish and you won’t end up with pieces of soft fat.
3. Add hot water so that the cooking process may start straight away in the oven.
4. Allow the giouvetsi to rest after you take it out of the oven for 10min covered so that the risoni may absorb the sauce further and the food cools slightly for you to enjoy it warm.
5. Choose a cheese to pair it with such as feta, mizithra, halloumi, kefalograviera or even parmesan.
For more poultry or meat, traditional and non, check out this link! And for more pasta options, click here.
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- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 kg chuck steak or gravy beef, cut in big chunks (about 4x8cm)
- 2 small onions, sliced or chopped
- 1 large garlic clove, sliced
- 1 medium carrot, coarsely grated
- 1 large celery stalk with leaves, chopped
- 1 tbs tomato paste
- 2 bay leaves, dried
- 1 ½ tsp cinnamon, ground
- 1 cube beef stock, crumbled
- ½ cup red wine, Merlot
- 1 can diced tomatoes, 400g
- 800 mL hot water
- 1 cup risoni pasta, 190g
- 10 sprigs fresh parsley, chopped
- crumbled feta, grated mizithra or halloumi for serving
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Preheat the oven to 170°C fan forced. Heat a large flameproof baking dish with the extra virgin olive oil on a medium/high heat. Render the fat on the chuck steak for 8min on each side. If you do not have a flameproof baking dish use a frying pan and then a baking dish to place in the oven later. Remove the meat on a plate.
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Sauté the onions in the fat leftover in the baking dish until softened and then fry the garlic for 1min. Stir in the rest of the ingredients iexcept the risoni, parsley and cheese. Return the meat back in the baking dish also. Cover the baking dish with foil and place it in the oven to cook for 2.5 hours.
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After 2.5 hours, remove the baking dish and increase the oven temperature to 190°C fan forced. Stir in the risoni pasta and parsley then return the baking dish in the oven uncovered for a further 20min. Take the giouvetsi out of the oven, cover and let it rest for 10min. Serve with the cheese of your choice.
So yummy! Added bone broth instead of water and goats cheese on top. Delicious!
Taste even better the next day
Hi . Can i add Bulgar Wheat instead of Risonni ?
I am a terrible cook.
This turned out amazing and was hugely successful. Almost followed the recipe to the T.Instead of stock cube (as I didn’t have any) and hot water, I used 800ml of beef stock.
Also didn’t have parsley but still delicious.
Family loved it! By the time I went to the fridge to get the cheese they had devoured it and asked for more.
Meat tender, risoni perfectly cooked and dish was full of flavour.
Defiinitely make it again.
Thank you!
Absolutely delicious and so easy when following your instructions ! Thanks Eleni!
Yayay thanks so much Sophie for giving it a go and for leaving your review! Much appreciated 🙂
I wonder if anyone has tried cooking this in a slow cooker?
And if any quantities need to be altered for that way of cooking
Hi Rebecca, I don’t own a slow cooker so i can’t specify the quantities for sure but I’ve definitely seen it made in a slow cooker before.
Do you mean 170 degrees C or F? And fan forced/conventional?
Hi Ash, I just made the ammendment, it should say fan forced thanks for letting me know. The temperature as indicated is 170 Celcius.
I usually avoid making beef cause i don’t really like the taste of beef, but after making this dish the other day i must say – i love it! And the recipe itself is so easy to follow 🙂 thank you Eleni for your recipes, you are a keeper! Definitely will make this qgain.
This means the world to me! Thanks Dominika for giving it a go 🙂 So glad you enjoyed it that much.
This is a winner at our dinner table, it makes almost a weekly appearance now. I use shin gravy beef and sometimes add in an extra veg or two, but it is always a charm.
We have had to remove the cinnamon from the dish as some people in our family don’t quite like the taste, but it is a dream to eat either way.
Thanks for your feedback Priscilla 🙂 My brother in law doesn’t quite like cinnamon in food too so I get what you mean. The tomatoes alone give it a nice sweet flavour so I’m glad you were able to enjoy it too.
I made this with lamb shanks and it was so flavoursome. The meat was soft and melted in the mouth. My whole family loved it. I will definitely make this again. Thanks for sharing Eleni!
That’s awesome, glad your family enjoyed it! Did you find the time listed was enough for the shanks?
I cooked shanks for 3 hours
I absolutely loved this dish and so did my whole family. I have made it twice now and it is definitely one that will be cooked often in this house.
Amazing! I’m glad it’s been a repeat hit with the family!
A very delicious and tasty meal . The meat was so soft and tender and the flavours of the beef and the,sauce were absorbed by the risoni. The recipe is so precise that you simply cannot go wrong . I loved it and so did my family. Iwill definitely be making this again .
Thank you so much Sophia! I’m absolutely wrapped your whole family enjoyed it 🙂
Delicious! Amazing flavours and meat was very tender. Definitely making this again, next time I will try it with lamb.
Yummy!
It really does fall apart so easily! And the actual process of cooking is quite effortless I think 🙂 Thanks for giving it a go!