Greek-Cypriot Pork Tavas

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This delicious one-pan recipe for Greek-Cypriot Pork Tavas has been passed down to me, and it’s time for me to pass it on to the world! It is a really simple and rustic dish made with cubes of pork, potatoes, veg, & rice. Tavas is best served hot but is actually just as tasty when cooled down, making it fab leftovers the next day. I sometimes serve it with a Greek salad and a dollop of houmous on the side.

Greek-Cypriot Pork Tavas

As a girl of Greek-Cypriot heritage, the Cypriot recipes that I share on my blog have generally been passed down to me from my dad or grandmother. Most of the time I don’t have any measurements, because we Cypriots, just don’t cook like that! I can’t always tell you in grams or ounces how much of each ingredient I used. But I can tell you what I put in it for the three of us (which also gave us leftovers, so let’s say 4 people!)

This recipe is very easy to put together as you just prep all the ingredients, throw everything in a roasting dish, then pop it in the oven and forget about it for about an hour or so. Once you see how simple it is to make, you’ll adjust it to your needs in no time!

I generally use one potato, one carrot, and one onion per person. Sometimes I’ll throw in an extra carrot or potato “for luck”! The veggies are all peeled and chopped into roughly the same size pieces. Out of laziness, I buy pork already cubed, but you could take some pork shoulder or pork loin and cut it into 4cm/1.5″ cubes. Everything is then placed in a bowl and seasoned with some salt, dried oregano, and a glug of olive oil.

The ingredients are then transferred to a roasting dish (you could prep it directly in one, to be honest; I was meal prepping so had everything in bowls around me!), and push the everything out to the sides to form a space in the center for the [dried] rice to go – I use about 40-50 grams per person.

A tin of chopped tomatoes is added, along with a tin full of water with a tablespoon of tomato puree added. This all gets poured over the rice and kind of slooshed about. I often add another splash of olive oil before covering it with foil and popping it in the oven to cook for about an hour – maybe a bit more – basically until everything is cooked through.

I do tend to check about halfway through and give the rice a stir – adding a drop more water if needed – and turn over the meat and veggies. At the end of the cooking time, I mix everything together and serve straight from the roasting dish.

I sometimes serve the pork tavas with a Greek salad and a dollop of hoummus, and sometimes I simply serve it as is.

I am a bit funny at re-heating rice, so if there are leftovers, we have them cold, but the dish tastes just as yummy. If you do re-heat this, please ensure that it is piping hot throughout.

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Greek-Cypriot Pork Tavas

Yield: 4

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

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Ingredients

• 500g diced pork (shoulder or loin*)
• 4 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 4 large carrots, peeled and sliced
• 4 medium onions, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 tsp dried oregano
• olive oil
• 200g long grain rice (dry weight)
• 1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes (then filled with cold water)
• 1 tbsp tomato puree

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 200C / 400C / Gas 6.
2. Place the pork, potatoes, carrots, and onions into a large roasting dish.
3. Sprinkle with the salt and oregano and drizzle over about a tablespoon or two of olive oil. Toss everything to combine.
4. Make a well in the middle of the dish, by pushing the ingredients to the sides.
5. Pour the dry rice into the well and pour over the chopped tomatoes.
6. Fill the can with cold water and stir the tomato puree into it. Pour this over the rice and give a little bit of a mix around.
7. Drizzle with a little more olive oil and cover the dish with foil
8. Cook for about 60 minutes - checking halfway through to stir the rice (add more hot water if required) and to turn the meat and vegetables. Leave uncovered for the final 15 minutes to brown off. Depending on the size of your vegetables it might take a bit longer to cook - it's done when the rice is tender, and the meat and vegetables are cooked through.
9. Stir everything together before serving.
10. Can be eaten as is, or with a salad.
11. Can also be enjoyed cold the next day as leftovers.

Notes

*use pork that has a little bit of fat on it.

I rarely reheat rice after I've cooked it; but if you do decide to reheat the tavas, make sure that it is piping hot throughout.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 634Total Fat: 22gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 110mgSodium: 706mgCarbohydrates: 69gFiber: 9gSugar: 11gProtein: 41g

This site uses Nutritionix to provide estimated nutrition. Nutritional information is always approximate and will depend on the quality of ingredients used and serving sizes. If you need exact calories and macros, please do your own calculations.

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