Kreas Manestra

I would have included a photo but we were so ravenous we ate the entire thing like a bunch of lions falling on a wildebeest -- or more appropriately to our setting like a pack of wolves on a snowshoe hare...ANYWAY.... this is a hit with kids because it contains pasta, albeit in a different form. I use a pressure cooker first because I use stew meat rather than left-over leg of lamb, diced -- which is already tender enough...and if you happen to make lamb enough to have leftovers this is a perfect dish...my measuring these days is all kind of approximate...and I've tried to use less olive oil than many might -- the less oil you use the lower the heat should be as the onions and garlic will burn....

1 lb or so of lamb - stew meat works
1 c. chicken broth
1 16 oz package of orzo
2 large-ish yellow onions
4 cloves of garlic
1T olive oil
14 oz can of diced tomatoes
1/4t - 1/2 t cinnamon
salt & pepper to taste (I cut down on salt if my chicken broth isn't low sodium)
1T sugar
μυζήθρα, pronounced mee-ZEETH-rah, sometimes spelled "myzithra." -- 1/4 cup, grated

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Heat the olive oil in a pressure cooker over medium heat. Add the diced onions and diced garlic -- cooking to soften -- 7 mn or so. Add salt. Add the tomatoes, sugar, cinnamon, and lamb -- stirring together and adding enough chicken broth to use the pressure cooker -- it should be a little thinner than stew-like --you may not end up using the entire cup of broth - -that's okay. Put the lid on the pressure cooker and cook for about 15 minutes or so.

New pressure cookers aren't nearly as scary as our mother's were -- I remember terrifying stories about food explosions and the lurking possibility that in making a simple dish one might end up in the emergency room...BUT now it's totally easy to use and depressurize and all that. I often worry that I'm going to get it too hot and it will burn -- rather than pressurize -- so the mistake I made initially was not getting it pressurized enough. I find that if you put it on medium heat and wait for the tell-tale hissing to be constant -- then turn it down as you would do rice.

Okay...after the pressure cooking you add the orzo. I was able to actually mix in the orzo, turn off the stove, take W. to practice and come back to find the orzo cooked and the dish ready to be put in the oven. Whichever way you do -- either traditionally on the stove under low heat -- stir constantly though -- and if it gets too thick add a tiny bit of broth -- the orzo should absorb all the liquid...when cooked at the cheese, mix and put in a baking dish with a little bit of grated cheese on top. The baking at this point is just to really melt the cheese on top...15 minutes or so, if that.

And voila (or whatever the Greek equivalent is -- OOPA?)

I guarantee it won't last long...supposedly this should have fed eight people. It fed two adults and a boy.