Slow cooked lamb kleftiko tray bake
This lamb kleftiko tray bake is one that my family makes the most when we get together! Super easy to make as you just simply mix all the ingredients together and then voila! 3.5 hours later you have the tenderest and tastiest meal ever. The only issue really is all the wait haha… while the whole house fills with that amazing smell!
“Kleftiko” translates to stolen, as its history dates a few centuries back when the poor people would steal animals they couldn’t own. They would dig a very deep hole in the ground to make a fire pit to place the meat inside to cook. To prevent the smells from giving it away, the make shift oven was sealed with soil or even rocks. The lamb would cook under the ground for several hours before it was dug up again!
My family make the kleftiko tray bake using a clay pot but it’s something I don’t own. So when I make it at home I use a large and deep baking tray. The key step to this dish is to ensure that the tray is well-sealed to keep all the steam inside. For that I use both baking paper and foil to cover the tray.
The kleftiko tray bake recipe is super adaptable to suit your family’s taste buds. The spices I use are very typical to the Cypriot flavours and ones that I tend to add in all my dishes. Especially the addition of bay leaf, which gives the lamb such a distinguished flavour!
For more of my tray bake recipes visit this page. There are a variety of them including meat, vegetarian and seafood. A lot of ideas for when a quick and easy meal is needed.
- 2 kg lamb large cooking pieces, forequarter or leg, see notes
- 750 g potatoes, peeled and quartered
- 3 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 3 onions, peeled and quartered
- 2 celery stalks including leaves, chopped
- 3 tbs dried oregano
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 4 bay leaves
- 1 1/2 tbs salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
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Preheat the oven to 170°C. Combine all the spices together in a small bowl. Place all the ingredients in a large baking tray and sprinkle the spice mix on them. Rub the spices well on to each piece.
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Re arrange the ingredients so that the lamb pieces are on top and everything else lies underneath them. That way all the vegetables will be super flavoursome and moist.
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Cover the tray with baking paper, followed by two layers of foil. Make sure the food is sealed well. Place the tray in the oven and cook for at least 3.5hrs.
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Serve warm combined with some salad, yoghurt and a side of pikla!
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If you have time, season the meat with the spice mix only and allow it to marinate for a few hours. That way the meat absorbs more salt to get more flavour. After that time arrange the vegetables on the bottom of the tray and the meat on top just like the method above. The meat releases all that flavour onto the other vegetables during cooking and the potatoes don't end up too salty.
The size of the cooking pieces are usually large, as big as a closed fist.
Sometimes I might add ½ cup of water if there isn’t much fat on the lamb but honestly the majority of the times it is absolutely not necessary.
