Souvlaki in Pita ala Tom Box

This is something so simple, so basic and so delicious that it needs to be included in everyone’s recipe book.

You take the best leg of lamb meat that you can get. Find some authentic pita bread (try a middle-eastern shop.. if the super markets only offer pita the size of a grapefruit. What you are looking for is a pita bread as large as that of both of your hands placed flat on a table. It also makes a big difference when you buy the freshest, ripest and tastiest tomatoes possible… We picked a few from our garden for today’s treat and really noticed the difference between the really ripe ones and the ‘they are ripe enough’ ones…. so, from our lesson learned today – pick the ripest ones for this recipe. Lastly shallots and parsley.. we used the supermarket variety today. Ready for something simple? The following serves 4 people.

Tools:
BBQ
4 Skewers
Knives and chopping board

Ingredients:
800g leg of lamb / lammhuft (approx 200g per person)
4 tomatoes chopped (in a bowl as a condiment)
A handful of parsley chopped (in a bowl as a condiment)
8 shallots (halved if small, quartered if large to fit on the skewers securely)
2 lemons (one halved and the other quartered)
2 pitas per person (for this recipe, we used 8)

Preparation:
1) Cut the lamb into small 2cm chunks or cubes so that they fit on the skewers securely
2) Cut the shallots in half (or quarters if they are large)
3) Put a shallot on the end of a skewer and then follow with 2 pieces of lamb then repeat until the skewer is full. You will want to leave a bit of space near the end of the skewer to make it easy to work with when on the BBQ. The quantities in this recipe should be sufficient for 4 skewers)
4) Ensure that the BBQ is good and hot then place the skewers for 2 minutes onto the hot grill (see photo above)
5) Turn the skewers to brown the opposite side and squeeze some lemon juice onto the meat each time after flipping them. Turn the skewers every 2 – 3 minutes depending on the thickness of your lamb cubes. We rarely turn the skewers more than 3 times.
6) During the 3rd skewer rotation, place the pita bread on the upper grill (if you have one) and heat up one side so that the pita puffs up.
7) Set the skewers aside and place the pita bread in a basket when the above cycle is done and you have tested the meat for the requisite well done, medium or rare levels have been met. Most of the time, you get all 3 levels on each skewer depending on placement on the BBQ.
8) Take a pita bread and cut a slit 20% from one edge or cut one edge off (instead of a cutting a slit). The idea is to create a pocket of bread for your meat and condiments. For small pita breads, you may prefer to cut them in half but we don’t recommend it.
9) Grab the pita in one hand, sprinkle a pinch of chopped parsley into it and then take a skewer in the other hand and insert the skewer tip into the pita bread until the tip pierces the pita and you can pull the meat and shallots off the skewer using the pita as a glove. Careful not to pierce your hand with the skewer – this step is not for the kiddies unless you enjoy some screaming and a bit of blood… err ketchup… Essentially, you are filling the pita with meat and shallots leaving some room for parsley and tomatoes.
10) Squeeze some lemon juice into the pita pocket onto the meat and then add a spoonful of chopped tomatoes into the pocket to top it off. Delicious!

Notes:
Unless you enjoy eating meat that tastes like charcoal, stay near the BBQ for this recipe, things move pretty fast and dinner is usually ready in under 10 minutes.
This is the basic recipe that can be prepared and served within 30 minutes. Modifications to the above include chopping cucumbers and creating a creamy sauce (often yogurt based) to add to the variety of condiments available.