A four-generation-old Cretan lamb and zucchini pot dish recipe

You will not usually find me writing recipes for Greek City Times. I will usually be erratically typing away about something related to Greece and its international relations.

But there is one recipe, at least four generations old, that my Cretan great-grandmother used, and it is so delicious that I just had to share it.

A four-generation-old Cretan lamb and zucchini pot dish recipe.

This is the recipe for lamb and zucchini cooked in a pot.

Cut onions and the ends of the zucchini, as well as salt and pepper lamb shoulder chops.

Fry the onions, add boiling water and about three big spoonfuls of tomato paste.

Let it stew.

Flash fry the lamb with the oil very hot to seal the meat.

Add the flash-fried meat and all its juices to the pot with the onions, tomato paste, and water.

Flash fry the zucchini in the same pan and oil as the meat.

Set aside the zucchini. Add boiling water to the same frypan used to seal the meat and cook the zucchini, and scrape the flavour/bits of meat off the bottom of the pan.

Add the oil, bits of meat, and boiling water from the fry pan to the pot with the meat and onions.

After an hour and a half of cooking, the pot begins to look like this as the water starts to reduce.

After about two and a half to three hours, remove the meat from the pot and add the zucchini for about 15-20 minutes.

When finished, you can take out the zucchini and put the meat back in.

Turn off the flame, let the food sit, and settle for 5-10 minutes before eating.

Serve with good bread and kefalograviera cheese, and enjoy a little-known Cretan village dish with a recipe that is several generations old.

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