Braised beef with orzo pasta

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2lb bottom round        2 medium yellow onions       1 cup Greek olive oil              4 allspice
       beef                      2 carrots                                 1 tsp tomato paste             3 cloves
 or chuck-eye roast    3 garlic cloves                       1/2 cup red dry wine           1 tsp cinnamon
                                     3 big ripe tomatoes                Feta cheese                 salt & pepper (to taste)
                                     1 leek (if it is in season)         3 cups orzo pasta             4 dried chilies
                                                                                       or any other small        or 3 bird-eye chilies
                                                                                       shaped pasta                for more heat!                                                                                    (egg noodles is also an       
                                                                                    excellent choice)  

 A twist on the original recipe, made with traditional egg noodles from the island of Lemnos

Preparation

Trim the beef and cut it in 2-inches cubes.

Grate the tomatoes after you have discarded the seeds. Grate the carrots.

Finely chop the onions and the leek.

Mash the garlic with a garlic press or finely chop it.

Cooking Phase I

In a heavy pan put the meat cubes and cover it with cold water. Bring to boil. Discard the water and all the dirt* that comes out of the meat.  

Wipe the pan clean and heat the olive oil in maximum temperature. Season the meat with salt and pepper. Sear the meat until it gets brown on all sides. Stir occasionally but not constantly, so that the meat creates a crust that will keep all the juices inside the meat cubes. 

Add the onion, the leek, the garlic and the carrot. Give them a stir or two and pour the wine in the pan. That will create an instant smoke, and when it settles scrap the bottom of the pan so that you get all the flavorful pan drippings and incorporate them in the sauce. Allow a couple of minutes for all the alcohol to evaporate.

Add the grated tomato and the tomato paste. If the sauce is too thick, add a little hot water*. Dissolve the honey in the hot sauce, to balance the sourness of the fresh tomatoes. Adjust the taste with salt and pepper. Add the chilies, the cinnamon, the cloves and the allspice.

Cook in medium heat until the meat is tender but not completely cooked, about an hour to an hour and a half. If the sauce runs too think add hot water during the cooking. The sauce has to be watery.  

 Cooking Phase II

Preheat the oven to 325^oF/200^oC. Transfer the meat with the sauce in a clay pot*** and put it in the oven.

When it is fully heated add the orzo pasta. Make sure the sauce fully covers the pasta. If not, add hot water. Cook in the oven for 30 – 45 minutes. If the pasta absorbs all the water during cooking, add more hot water.

  

Taste a little bit of the pasta and make sure it has enough salt and it is cooked al dente. Make sure that the sauce in the pot is still watery and not completely dried out. Let it rest in the oven for 15 minutes.

Serve while it is still hot with crumbled feta cheese on top.  

Notes

* In this process you get rid of all the bad substances meat might have, but you will also lose some of its flavor. If you know where your meat comes from and that it is antibiotic-free, you can skip this step.

** It is common in braising and stewing to use some kind of stock. Beef or vegetable stock would go great in this recipe. My mother and grandmother never used stocks in most of their cooking. In my opinion, the vegetables and spices give such strong flavors in this dish that hot water is working as well as any stock.

*** Traditionally in Greece a clay pot is used, as it cooks the pasta better and gives out the earthiness of the dish flavors. It might be hard to find a good clay pot for cooking, as people who can truly master the craft of the clay are rare. A heavy pan that goes into the oven is a good substitute for the clay pot.