​The name says it all really. It's a pie. It has Meat in it. It hails from Kefalonia. It's made with small pieces of slow cooked lamb and pork mixed with rice and is both quite subtle and incredibly filling. Every taverna does it slightly differently, with some using brick pastry or phyllo. Sometimes they are slightly meatier others have more tomato in. However it turns up at your table, it's always delicious!

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Method

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 ​​​​​​​​​​​  Cut the lamb leg and pork shoulder into approx 1cm
chunks. Brown these in olive oil for 5 minutes or so in a sturdy pan. Remove when done. 

  Gently sauté the onions and carrots in the same pan for 10 minutes before adding the lamb stock, garlic, salt, pepper, cinnamon, oregano and tomato purée.  Mix these together well then place the lamb and pork back in the mixture and bring the a simmer. ​

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Place a lid on the pan and cook on a very low heat for 45 minutes.  Occasionally check on the fluid levels as you don't want it to dry out.

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When the time is up, add the rice and stir through.  Bring the temperature up to a very gentle boil and cook the rice through.  The timing of this will depend on what rice you are using, usually anywhere between 9 to 12 minutes.  If the liquid levels drop too far, add a touch of boiling water.  The mixture should end up being quite firm and not at all runny. Put aside to cool.​

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Take your chosen pastry and roll out a base large enough to fill your pie tin, also roll out a piece to form your lid.   Line your tin and when the mixture is cool enough, fill it up and then carefully place your lid on. 

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Place the pie in an oven at 200c and cook for approximately 45 minutes until your pastry has cooked out.

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Serve with vegetables of your choice and enjoy!
 

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