Kleftiko: The History and Recipe of the Famous Traditional Greek Dish

This BBQ lamb Kleftiko recipe is absolutely incredible. Kleftiko is a traditional Greek dish rooted in the country’s pastoral culture. It was originally created by the kleftes, mountain bandits who inspired both the name and the recipe. These men would steal sheep or goats from nearby villages to feed themselves.

To avoid detection by locals or authorities, the kleftes would hide the stolen animals in caves or rocky crevices in the mountains, where they would light low, concealed fires to cook the meat slowly and quietly. Shepherds also used this method to prepare lamb in the mountains during the many wars that plagued Greece, using caves as makeshift ovens to stay out of sight from enemies.

Over time, this secretive cooking technique became popular among everyday people and eventually became a beloved traditional recipe in Greek cuisine. Today, Kleftiko is prepared by wrapping lamb or goat in parchment or foil, adding vegetables like potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, and onions, and letting everything cook slowly in a wood-fired oven for several hours.

Born in the mountains of Greece, Kleftiko is an iconic slow-cooked lamb recipe, where the meat is hidden and braised until melt-in-your-mouth tender. This traditional dish finds new life on the barbecue, cooked in a cast-iron Dutch oven with a fragrant marinade of lemon, honey, garlic, and rosemary. Everything is wrapped in butcher paper to lock in the juices and slow-cooked at 180°C (350°F) for a confit-style, incredibly flavorful result.

The Story Behind This Ancestral Dish

Kleftiko takes its name from the kleftes, Greek mountain bandits who cooked stolen lamb in pits buried underground to avoid detection from the smoke. This hidden, slow-cooking method gave rise to one of the most emblematic dishes of rural Greece. Today, it’s baked in an oven or, like here, in a Dutch oven on the BBQ. A delicious tribute to the roots of Mediterranean cuisine.

⏱️ Cooking & Prep Time

• Prep: 20 minutes
• Cook: 3 h 30
• Rest: 10 minutes
• ⏳ Total: about 4 hours

Ingredients

Equipment

• Butcher paper
• Cast-iron Dutch oven
• Blender

Ingredients

• 1 kg bone-in lamb
• 1 handful fresh rosemary
• 1 lemon (zest + juice)
• 6 garlic cloves
• 150 ml good-quality olive oil
• 2 tbsp honey
• 5 waxy potatoes
• Salt / pepper
• 150 g kefalograviera cheese
• 1 tsp chili flakes or seeds

Instructions

1. Place the lamb pieces on a large sheet of butcher paper.
2. Make the marinade: in a blender, combine garlic, lemon zest and juice, olive oil, rosemary, honey, pepper, and chili flakes. Blend until smooth.
3. Cut the potatoes into chunks and spread them around and over the meat.
4. Pour the marinade over everything and rub it well into the lamb and potatoes.
5. Set your BBQ for indirect heat at 180°C (350°F). Place charcoal on one side only.
6. Place everything into a Dutch oven (leave paper open) and set it in the indirect heat zone of your BBQ. Close the lid and smoke for 1 hour 30 minutes.
7. Then close the butcher paper and cover with the Dutch oven lid. Braise for another 2 hours at 180°C.
8. Serve hot with grated kefalograviera on top.

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