Oh it is a beautiful day my friends! I am cooking up a storm these past few months while preparing recipes for the upcoming cookbook. 🙂 I am sharing a delicious Greek comfort food on today’s post. Youvetsi (Greek beef orzo stew) is very popular all around Greece. It is one of my all time favorite recipes especially since I am a HUGE fan of orzo. I want to dedicate this recipe to my friend in France who has been enjoying Kouzounas Kitchen recipes. Thank you Jeanpierre Maes for all the support and enjoying the Greek cuisine.

Notes:

This is not a recipe during fasting but you could always eliminate the meat and replace with vegetables. (Hey that is an idea for another post.)

Beef Youvetsi with Tomato Wine Sauce Recipe

Servings: 6

One of my most favorite Fall comfort meat dishes. I just love orzo with meat especially with a delicious tomato wine sauce.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds of beef cut into cubes
• ½ cup of olive oil, divided
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1 large leek, finely chopped
• 1 bulb of anise, finely diced
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced
• ¼ cup of red wine
• 1 can of diced tomatoes
• 3 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 2 teaspoons of cinnamon powder
• 2 teaspoons of honey
• 3 cups of water, divided
• 1 ½ cups of orzo
• Fresh parsley to serve
• Optional: Crumbled feta cheese

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a heavy large pan heat ¼ cup olive oil over medium heat. Place meat in pan and season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 7-8 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove meat from the pan, and set aside.
2. Add remaining olive oil in large saucepan and saute the onions, leek, anise, and garlic. Saute until translucent about 5 minutes. Add carrots and saute for additional 3 minutes.
   Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, wine, cinnamon powder, honey, and water. Let the mixture come to a boil then reduce heat and let simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.
3. Add the meat to the pan and cook with cover for about 1 hour or until the meat is tender. Stir in the uncooked orzo to the pan and add ½ cup of water. (If you need to add more feel free.)
4. You can transfer the mixture to a deep dish if you like for more room or you can cook in the same pan as long as you wrap the handle with aluminum foil to prevent from burning your hand. Bake in oven for 1 hour, making sure to stir the mixture occasionally.
5. Remove from oven and serve with fresh feta cheese and parsley. Season according to taste.

Kali Orexi!!