Stuffed Neck of Lamb
RAQBEH MAHSHIEH
- 1 neck of lamb
- 1 1/2 cups ground beef or lamb
- 3/4 cup rice
- 1 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2tsp. pepper
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 cup chopped tomato (optional)
- 1/2 cup pine nuts
- 1 small cinnamon stick
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- 3 cups water
Have butcher slit the lamb's neck so that it can be stuffed.
Wash and drain rice. Mix together well the chopped meat, rice,
seasonings, pine nuts and chopped tomato. Bind with half cup
water. Stuff mixture into neck cavity and sew up with heavy
thread. Place in pan with enough salted water to cover. Bring
to boil and skim. The meat may now be placed in the pressure
cooker with three cups of water and cooked under pressure for
45 minutes, or it may be stewed gently for several hours in the
kettle. When tender, remove meat from broth. Cook an additional
half cup rice in the broth to make a soup to be served
as a first course. Spread the boiled meat with samneh and brown
in a moderate oven. Slice and arrange on a serving platter.
Serve with a side dish of laban. The rice soup will be served
before the meat, with chopped parsley and cinnamon sprinkled
over it. The stuffing may be removed from the neck and served
separately.
The raqbeh could be served either way :
l ) Only stuffed and boiled is the Lebanese way and
served with the soup, or
2) Boiled and browned in the Syrian way.
(From Food from the Arab World Marie
Karam Khayat and Margaret Clark Keatinge, Khayat's, Beirut 1959)
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