Greek Lamb or Beef Stew "Hilopites"

There are a few things we never learn to cook because we love the way someone else makes it. I'm finally making an attempt at my grandmother's hilopites! Hilopites are egg noodles and every Greek family and Greek restaurant has a different recipe for hilopites with some type of meat (beef, lamb, or chicken). 

This recipe uses either beef stew meat or lamb stew meat (if you can find it on the bone, even better). The lamb definitely has more flavor, but it is sometimes difficult to find. 

hilopites with lamb

Ingredients:

1 T olive oil

1 T butter

1 lb beef or lamb stew

1 15-oz can tomato sauce

1 C water + 1 1/2 C water

1 medium onion, diced

1 - 2 garlic cloves, minced

salt & pepper

4 C egg noodles

grated kefalotiri & mizithra or parmesan cheese

Directions:

meat

heat olive oil and butter in a large pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat. 

pat meat dry with paper towel.

when butter is melted and starting to sizzle, add meat and brown on both sides (about 3 minutes per side).

remove meat from pot and place on a plate.

with a spoon, skim off and discard any dark-colored fat from top of liquid in pot.

add onion and garlic and sauté until the onions start to brown (about 5 - 7 minutes).

add meat and juices back to pot.

add salt & pepper.

stir meat and cook with onions & garlic for another 5 minutes.

add tomato sauce and water to pot and stir.

cook on high heat until tomato sauce starts to boil.

reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 2 - 5 hours. 

remove meat from pot with a slotted spoon.

turn heat up to medium-high until sauce begins to boil.

noodles

add 1 to 1 1/2 C water to sauce and bring to a boil. 
add noodles to sauce and cook according to package.
salt & pepper to taste.

serve beef over noodles and sprinkle with cheese. 

onions will thicken the sauce and add flavor

use butter & olive oil - best of both worlds

raw meat, pat dry before adding to pot

brown meat in oil & butter on both sides

remove browned meat and transfer to plate

add onions directly to pot after skimming fat

onions will brown and become translucent

add meat back to onion mixture and cook

simmer time! oh boy, it smells good in here 

this is my favorite shape of egg noodle 

sauce is a beautiful vibrant red / orange

tips & extras

cheese - If you can find Greek cheese (kefalotiri or mizithra), use one of those. If not, parmesan is fine. freshly grated cheese is always better.

noodles - Unless you are doing so for health reasons, do not use egg noodles without yolk. The ones with the yolk taste much better and have a nicer texture.

cooking time - The longer you cook the meat, the more tender it will become. For beef, I'd recommend at least 3 hours. Lamb is naturally more tender, so an hour or two is will work, but 5 hours is better.

water - Depending on the amount of sauce, you may need to add more or less than 1 1/2 C water to the sauce before adding the noodles. When the noodles are finished, the remaining sauce will be thick (you don't want it runny, so watch the water).

noodles - You can use any shape of egg noodle you want. Greeks often use mini squares.