Ouzi
Slow-braised, fork-tender lamb folded through a warm-spiced rice pilaf studded with toasted almonds, pine nuts, and plumped raisins, traditionally wrapped in pastry and baked until golden. Rooted in Bedouin traditions of portable, festive food, ouzi's real origin is genuinely disputed across Iraq, the Levant, and the Gulf: Iraq's quzi traditionally stuffs and slow-cooks a whole lamb, Levantine versions lean toward a ground-meat pilaf filling, and Gulf states have a related date-palm-leaf-wrapped cousin called shuwaa.
Meat
⚠ Contains: Tree Nut, Gluten, Egg. Always check your own ingredients — this isn't a guarantee for severe allergies.
Ingredients
- 2 lb lamb shoulder, bone-in, cubed
- 1 onion, quartered
- 4 cardamom pods
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cinnamon stick
- Salt, to taste
- 2 cups basmati rice
- 3 cups lamb braising liquid
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup slivered almonds
- 1/2 cup pine nuts
- 1 tsp baharat spice blend
- 1 lb phyllo or puff pastry sheets, optional
- 1 egg, beaten, for egg wash, optional
Steps
- Simmer the lamb with the quartered onion, cardamom, bay leaves, cinnamon, and salt in water to cover for 1.5-2 hours until fork-tender; reserve the broth and shred the meat.
- Saute the diced onion in butter until golden, then add the rice and baharat and toast 2 minutes.
- Add the reserved broth, bring to a boil, cover, and simmer 15-18 minutes until the rice is tender.
- Toast the almonds and pine nuts separately, and saute the raisins briefly in butter until plump.
- Fold the shredded lamb, nuts, and raisins through the rice.
- For a baked version, layer pastry sheets in a dish, fill with the rice-lamb mixture, wrap, brush with egg wash, and bake at 375F for 25-30 minutes until golden.
- Serve hot, garnished with extra nuts.