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Greek Gyros Pita

Crete offers up some great recipes and meals taken from the many Taverna's dotted across the island of Crete, many of these Taverna's offer home cooked meals prepared for years with the recipes handed down through the generations from mother to daughter. Holidays To Crete has pulled together a select few of our favourites recipes for you to cook at home.

You will find the Cretan recipes have a good balance of ingredients, and although may seem fat laden in places work out to offer an excellent diet, and as almost all recipes are cooked in olive oil, it offers a great reduction in saturated fats you find in sunflower oils.

This recipe is broken down into description, ingredients and cooking method.

Greek Gyros or Gyros Pita is a great takeaway food you will find in most Greek resorts, the dish is mainly prepared like our kebabs back home but the meat is thicker and more chunky.

The pita’s are thicker but these can be found many supermarkets specialising in Greek goods.

Ingredients

2 pounds lamb lean boneless lamb (use meat cut from the leg or shoulder), cut in 1 inch cubes

1/3 cup olive oil

1/2 cup lemon juice fresh

2 each garlic cloves peeled, cut in quarters

1 teaspoon thyme leaves fresh, chopped

1 teaspoon oregano or marjoram, fresh, chopped

1 x black pepper freshly ground

2 large onions spanish, cut in thinly sliced rings

24 small romaine lettuce leaves, washed and dried

6 large pita bread rounds

3 each tomatoes ripe

2 cups yogurt, plain

1 each garlic clove peeled and minced

1 teaspoon oregano or marjoram, fresh, chopped

1 tablespoon lemon juice fresh, for sauce

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 x salt and black pepper salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation and Cooking

The morning before an afternoon barbecue, make marinade by combining oil, lemon juice, garlic cloves, herbs and pepper in a medium bowl. Remove about 1/4 cup to mix with the onions. Place lamb cubes in bowl with remaining marinade; toss to coat well.

Place onions in small bowl and toss with reserved marinade. Cover with plastic wrap and chill, up to several hours, turning several times.

Meanwhile, make yogurt sauce by lining a medium bowl with cheesecloth and spooning in the yogurt. Tie up edges of cheesecloth with string to form a pouch. Suspend over bowl (tying from refrigerator rack above bowl), or place in a colander over bowl and let stand to drain several hours. Moisture will drip from the yogurt, giving it a thicker consistency. Mix drained yogurt with minced garlic, chopped herbs, lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper. Cover and chill. Makes about 1 cup.

Stack pita bread rounds into 2 piles and wrap each in foil, dull side out.

To barbecue, heat coals or gas barbecue. Remove meat from marinade, reserving some marinade for basting. (Discard any large garlic pieces.) Thread lamb onto greased skewers and grill over greased grill about 4 inches from hot coals. Cook, turning and basting often, about 10 minutes or until lamb is brown on the outside, still pink inside. Warm pita rounds over barbecue.

Before serving, lift the onions from the marinade with a slotted spoon and place in a serving bowl. Cut whole tomatoes into thin wedges and place on plate. Place lettuce leaves on plate. Set out yogurt sauce and lots of napkins to facilitate handling of gyros.

To serve, cut each warmed pita bread in half and separate to form 2 pockets. Each person fills a warmed pita picket with some of the grilled lamb cubes, lettuce, tomatoes and onions, topping with a spoonful of sauce.

Greek Gyros Pita
Moderate
85 Minutes Total
Yes

Greek Recipes

Holidays2Crete.com > Guides to Crete > Greek Food Recipes > Greek Gyros

Recipe Video

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