Ingredients

• 1 leg of lamb or a shoulder about 2 kg, or 2 kg beef, boned, trimmed of fat
• and sliced into large serving portions
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and
• halved
• 1400 gr. can tomatoes, or 500 gr. ripe tomatoes finely chopped
• 5 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 150 ml hot water
• salt and black pepper
• 400 grams orzo (small tear-shaped pasta) - the greek kritharaki - , or spaghetti broken in little
• 100 gr. grated Parmesan or Greek kefalotiri cheese

Instructions

• Rinse the meat and place it in a large roasting dish.
• If using a whole leg of lamb, make 3-4 deep slits with a small sharp knife and insert a piece of garlic into each one. Scatter the remaining garlic around the meat.
• Pour the olive oil and the tomatoes over the meat, then add the seasoning and the oregano.
• Pour the water into the dish. Place in a pre-heated oven, gas no.7 /425 grades F/ 220 grades C), and cook it for 50 minutes, basting from time to time, and turning the portions over. (If cooking a whole leg, just baste it a couple of times and, after 50 minutes, turn it over.)
• After 50 minutes, pour 600 more boiling water into the dish and add the pasta, together with more seasoning.
• Turn the oven down to gas no.6/ 400 grades F/ 200 grades C and bake for a further 40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is cooked to your taste. Keep testing it to catch it at the right time. If needed, add a little more hot water.
• Serve immediately sprinkled with the cheese.