Special Greek Fricassee Recipe for Easter Holidays

In every corner of the Greek peninsula, and on practically every table, during the Easter holidays you will find the wonderful fricassee dish. Is a traditional recipe in many kitchens of Europe, but significantly made its way into the Greek DNA.

Fricassee, born in France and now protagonist of Greek cuisine

We are talking about a meat and herb dish that originated in medieval France: the word fricasse hides within itself the meaning of the recipe’s own process, frire (to fry) and casser (to cut into pieces).

The name therefore derives precisely from the steps involved in preparing the dish, frying in a pan the cut pieces of meat together with vegetables or herbs, or both together.

Over the years the recipe for fricassee has been shared by many European peoples, but the truth is that no cuisine like the Greek one has incorporated it so deeply into its own DNA, by also making modifications and introducing elements characteristic of Greek cuisine and diet.

Whether it is lamb, pork, or even beef, in the culinary bibles of Greek gastronomy the ingredients do not vary much: meat, lettuce, dill, fresh spring onion, and the “secret” ingredient αυγολεμονο/ avgolèmono (egg beaten with lemon, as a thickener).

A Greek recipe, by Giorgio Pintzas Monzani

Today, with a religious regard for tradition, without being too offensive to the more fanatical radicals, we will look together at a different, even lighter way of preparing this staple of Greek cuisine.

Lamb fricassee with leek and dill, avgolemono and lettuce pesto

Ingredients:

• 1 kg lamb pieces, possibly bone-in thighs
• 2 medium leeks
• 2 cloves of garlic
• about 500 g lettuce
• a bunch of dill
• a glass of white wine
• salt & pepper
• extra virgin olive oil
• cumin

For the avgolemono

• 2 eggs
• 1 lemon

Instructions:

We start by browning our meat. In a large pot we heat two tablespoons of olive oil, when well hot we put in the meat, lightly salt it, add pepper and brown until it has reached a nice golden color: then we remove it and set it aside on a plate.

In the same pot we put the thinly sliced leek, along with the garlic cloves, and let them wilt over medium heat.

When the vegetables are well wilted, we add the meat, let it heat up, and add the white wine: using a wooden spoon, scrape well the bottom where the deliciousness of the dish is hidden. (A little P.S: it is NOT burned).

When the alcohol has evaporated we cover the meat with cold water, close with a lid and let it cook on a gentle flame for 45 minutes.

Then we add 5 or 6 stalks of dill and half a teaspoon of cumin to our soup and close for another 20 minutes.

After that we remove the dill stalks and add the leaves, raise the flame slightly and cook without a lid for 5 minutes.

Finally, we turn off the heat and let it cool.

Separately, we beat our eggs well and add the juice of the lemon: if you want you can separate the white from the yolk and beat it for a frothier sauce.

To our egg mixture we add a ladle of our broth/sauce, to gently raise its temperature.

Then we are going to pour the avgolemono into our pot and stir well to avoid egg clots in some places.

Our dish is now ready.

For the pesto

We clean and wash our lettuce well, then dry it very well to avoid unwanted water in our pesto.

Cut off the whiter end of the lettuce, chop the leaves into small pieces and put them in a blender or food processor.

Add the zest of our lemon, pepper and a drop of lemon juice.

Blend by adding olive oil slowly.

Remember not to let the emulsification process take too long, because you risk oxidizing the lettuce and losing the green color that will make the difference in our dish.

Remember to adjust the salt before serving.

PROTIP:

If you want to add a small but special boost to your lamb pesto, add a teaspoon of ouzo (I know you all have it at home anyway) at the end of the process.