Pork Gyro’s
Gyro’s – an Ancient Greek street food made with pork, were fashioned after Turkish Donair’s, cooked on a vertical spit or a Persian sword, over a fire. True Gyro’s are thinly sliced pieces of meat cut right from the cone.
Middle Eastern Shawarma’s, again very similar, are usually made from chicken and seasoned with sumac and za’atar. Constant between countries, is seasoned meat wrapped in bread.
Garnish with tomatoes, red onion, cucumbers and Tzatziki. Tzatziki takes a minimum of 3.5 hours to make so prepare earlier in the day if only marinating the pork for a short time.
Pork Gyro’s
We do not have a vertical spit so adapted this recipe from the New York Times and cook on a sheet pan. During warmer months, use the baking sheet on a barbeque if desired. This makes enough to entertain a crowd. A 4 lb. bone in should roast trimmed of most outside fat came in at just about exactly 2 lb. of meat for the Gyro’s.
Ingredients
- 2 lb. (908 gr) pork shoulder meat after trimmed
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- ½ lemon (2 TBSP) fresh lemon juice
- ¼ tsp. garlic minced
- ½ TBSP paprika
- ½ TBSP cumin
- ½ TBSP oregano dried
- ½ TBSP thyme dried
- ½ TBSP parsley dried
- ½ TBSP rosemary dried
- 1 TSP. salt
- ½ tsp. pepper
- ¾ cup red onion sliced
Garnish:
- Lemons slices
- Red Onion
- Cucumber
- Black Olives
- Tzatziki
- Feta Cheese
- French Fries
- Pitas
- Taco Chips Gluten Free
Instructions
- The most difficult step in this recipe is trimming the pork. Place in the freezer for 30 – 40 minutes to firm up prior to trimming.
- Cut pork into ½ inch slices by 2 – 3 inches long.
- Slice red onion and toss with the pork in a large dish or Zip Lock bag.
- Next mix olive oil, lemon juice, herbs and spices in a small dish. Add to pork and onions.
- Let marinate on the counter for up to 1 hour or in the refrigerator up to overnight.
- Pre heat oven or grill to 400.
- Spread pork onto a large baking sheet and cook for 15 minutes.
- If using the oven, turn on to broil and raise rack to second from the broiler. Broil for 5 minutes. Pork should be cooked. Leave any juices/oil on the sheet.
- If using a grill cook for 20 minutes total and serve piled high with garnishes wrapped in a pita.
Notes
Mediterranean flavours deserve a nice wine. one of our favourite meals, all wrapped in a pita. Even though it is pork, red wine pairs beautifully.
We’ve paired:
- Beringer Paso Robles the Haymaker Red Wine 2014 – a Napa Valley blend of Syrah, Petite Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec.