Greek Meat Sauce with orzo and herb house salad
I love moussaka and pastitsio (both Greek bake-in-the-oven dishes). However they can be heavy and require the oven, so I decided to give these dishes a summer makeover. The result? A meat sauce that's full of spices that remind you of the Mediterranean that still feels light enough for the season. Paired with our simple house salad that's punched up with feta and herbs, dinner is going to rock.
Ingredients
- Red pepper - 2, chopped
- Cucumber - 1/2 lb, cubed
- Parsley - 3 sprigs, leaves torn
- Dijon mustard - 2 tsp
- Lemon juice - 1 Tbsp
- Red wine vinegar - 2 Tbsp
- Olive oil - 4 Tbsp
- Salad greens - 1/4 lb
- Feta - 4 oz
- Ground beef - 1 lb
- Garlic - 3 cloves, minced
- Onion - 1, diced
- Italian eggplant - 1, cubed
- Orzo - 8 oz
- Olive oil - 2 Tbsp
- Cooking oil - 1 1/2 Tbsp
- Crushed tomatoes (28 oz / 794 g can) - 1 can
- Thyme - 1 Tbsp, dried
- Oregano - 1 Tbsp, dried
- Allspice - 1 tsp
- Cinnamon - 1/2 tsp
- Lemon - 1/2, juice of
- Feta - 4 oz
- Parsley - leaves of a few sprigs
Nutrition Facts
Prep
- Ground beef - Season with salt & pepper. (Can be done the night before)
- Garlic / Onion / Eggplant - Prep as directed
- For salad: Red pepper / Cucumber / Parsley - Prep as directed
Make
- Bring a saucepan of water to boil. Salt heavily (that water should taste like the ocean!) and add orzo or other pasta. Cook until al dente, tender but not soggy. Drain and toss with 2 tbs. (30 ml) of olive oil. Set aside.
- Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add cooking oil and then garlic and to heated oil. Once you can smell the garlic, add the diced onions with some salt. Saute until softened, ~3 minutes.
- Next add ground beef. Break up with a wooden spoon and brown for ~5 minutes.
- Next add in eggplant with a dash of salt. Saute for another 5 minutes.
- Add in crushed tomatoes and thyme, oregano, allspice, and cinnamon. Lower heat to a simmer and cook for another 10 minutes. Finish with some lemon juice, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
- While sauce is cooking, whisk together mustard, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, and olive oil. Season to taste with salt & pepper. For more vinaigrette ideas, check out this video.
- Toss vinaigrette with greens, red peppers, cucumber, and parsley. Top with feta.
- Enjoy sauce with orzo and top with feta and parsley leaves and your house salad.
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Reviews
This meal has 8 reviews
Used zucchini instead of eggplant in the meat sauce and really liked it. I served it over brown rice instead of orzo because I already had some on hand. Sauce was very good! Really liked the salad dressing also.
Very hearty! Total comfort food.
Good flavor...although I did add a bit more allspice and cinnamon.
Really amazing meat sauce!
The only thing I would change is to use parmesan instead of feta. It's a more acidic tasting tomato sauce.
Had some friends over for dinner to share this and they loved it! So did I!