What separates güveç from a pan is the way it cooks: earthenware takes heat slowly, gives it back slowly and keeps the moisture inside. The result is a tenderness you cannot get from the same ingredients in a pan. Without an earthenware pot, a cast iron casserole is the nearest equivalent.
Ingredients
For the stew
Method
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Sear the meat
Turn the diced lamb in olive oil in a pan over a high heat for 8 minutes, until browned all over.
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Fill the pot
Transfer the meat to the earthenware pot. Add the onion, garlic, potato and aubergine.
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Make the sauce
Dissolve the tomato paste in hot water, mix with the tomato and pour it into the pot.
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First bake
Put the lid on and bake at 180 degrees for 90 minutes.
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Add the soft vegetables
Add the courgette and pepper with the salt and oregano and bake for 30 minutes more.
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Rest
Take it out of the oven and leave it covered for 10 minutes.
Tips
- Put the earthenware pot into a cold oven and let them heat together; a cold pot put into a hot oven cracks.
- Do not add the courgette and pepper at the start, they dissolve over two hours.
- Use little liquid; the vegetables will give up their own and no steam escapes from a covered pot.
Nutrition
Values are per serving and approximate.