Youvetsi

A Greek beef and orzo stew

This meal was a smash hit on my recent section hike, both with myself and with a couple thru-hikers. Now, one of these friends was admittedly hungry enough to eat a possum (if properly prepared), but he still said it was one of the best things he’d ever eaten, in the woods or otherwise. Now, this is a somewhat heavy meal to package (16 oz.) but it’s definitely enough to feed two, so it’s not really THAT heavy. Among the “fresh” (i.e. heavier) ingredients that you’ll need are a small onion, a tube of Amore tomato paste, and a mini bottle of wine (this adds an additional 7 ounces).

INGREDIENTS:

4 oz. freeze-dried beef cubes

2 packets of olive oil

small onion

1 heaping TB dehydrated leeks

3 TB dehydrated carrots

4 oz. dry red wine of choice (the mini bottles are 7 oz. so use half and drink the rest. Bonus.

mini ziploc with spices- 1 small bay leaf, 1/4 tsp. cinnamon, 1/8 tsp. ground cloves and 1/8 tsp. allspice

3 TB Amore paste

1 tsp. sugar

1 packet of beef broth

1 cup of orzo

1 packet of sea salt

packet(s) of Parmesan cheese for topping

DIRECTIONS:

Splash some water in the ziplocs containing the beef and vegetables

Saute diced onion in olive oil

Add beef, veggies and spices, stirring for 1 minute

Add tomato paste, stir briefly

Add 4 oz. wine, sugar, broth (mixed obviously in 1 cup of water) and salt. Simmer 5 minutes. Drink the rest of the wine during this time. Remember, LNT.

Add another cup of water and the orzo to the pot, bring to boil then simmer roughly 10 minutes. When the orzo is cooked, it’s been long enough. Add more water if it gets too thick.

Serve, top with parmesan cheese.