Love and Olive Oil

Gyros with Roasted Veggies and Tzatziki

Something you never thought you could make… well, you can. This is proof. Gyros. Complete with authentic gyro meat, ala Alton Brown (who else?). And you know what, they were pretty darn good! Though the recipe was a bit ridiculous (who drains onions and yogurt?)… um, no thanks. We drained the veggies for a few minutes, and didn’t even attempt to drain the yogurt. So what if we’re lazy? It was still good! A great leftover meal too.

We also added some roasted veggies. We just seasoned some zucchini and eggplant with the same spices as went into the gyro meat, and roasted them with a bit of olive oil. It adds a bit more substance to the gyro instead of just lamb, which is nice.

Gyros with Roasted Veggies and Tzatziki
Gyros with Roasted Veggies and Tzatziki

Makes 6-8 servings. Recipe from Alton Brown.

Ingredients
1 medium onion, finely chopped or shredded
2 pounds ground lamb
1 tablespoon finely minced garlic
1 tablespoon dried marjoram
1 tablespoon dried ground rosemary
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Tzatziki Sauce:
16 ounces plain yogurt
1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and finely chopped
Pinch kosher salt
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
5 to 6 mint leaves, finely minced

Directions
Process the onion in a food processor for 10 to 15 seconds and turn out into the center of a tea towel. Gather up the ends of the towel and squeeze until almost all of the juice is removed. Discard juice.

Return the onion to the food processor and add the lamb, garlic, marjoram, rosemary, salt, and pepper and process until it is a fine paste, approximately 1 minute. Stop the processor as needed to scrape down sides of bowl.

For Tzatziki sauce, place the yogurt in a tea towel, gather up the edges, suspend over a bowl, and drain for 2 hours in the refrigerator (or just dump it in the bowl). Place the chopped cucumber in a tea towel and squeeze to remove the liquid; discard liquid. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the drained yogurt, cucumber, salt, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, and mint. Serve as a sauce for gyros. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to a week.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Place the lamb mixture into a loaf pan, making sure to press into the sides of the pan. Place the loaf pan into a water bath and bake for 60 to 75 minutes or until the mixture reaches 165 to 170 degrees F. Remove from the oven and drain off any fat. Place the loaf pan on a cooling rack and place a brick wrapped in aluminum foil directly on the surface of the meat and allow to sit for 15 to 20 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches 175 degrees F. Slice and serve on pita bread with tzatziki sauce, chopped onion, tomatoes and feta cheese.

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3 Comments

  1. Quick FYI…Draining the yoghurt just makes it thicker. You can usually find greek/greek-style yoghurt in most grocery stores. Fage and Oikos Organic are my two favorites!

  2. Oh.My.Goodness. HAVE to try this, I just know hubby will crown me queen of the kitchen and marry me all over again after I make him homemade gyros!!

    Just found your blog, while searching for a pita bread recipe and I’m so glad I did! Do you mind if I link to you on my blog?

  3. Pingback: Love and Olive Oil » Blog Archive » Turkey Gyros and Homemade Pita Bread

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