One of my all-time favourite dishes is lamb kleftiko, slow-cooked over 8 hours, with potatoes, onions and tomatoes it’s a proper winter warmer, but once it gets to spring I'm not sure I want a heavy dinner, I start craving something a little lighter. Here is where my slow cook lamb gyros take centre stage.
A Gyro-Kleftiko hybrid it combines the things I love about both!
Gyros, pronounced YEE-ros (please, not G-eye-rose) are meat, salad, tzatziki and a few hot chips wrapped in a soft pitta, and often eaten walking home from drinks whilst spending the week relaxing on a Greek Island.
So whilst I can't give you the sea, sand and sunshine of the island, I can give you some of the flavours.
Kids love creating their own at the table and it’s great for fussier eaters who know exactly what they want in their wrap
The best bit – the lamb can be made the day before serving and keeps really well in the fridge, great for a weekend slow cook to be devoured for Monday tea!
For the lamb
1.5 – 1.8kg shoulder or leg of lamb (bone in weight)
1 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp mint
1/2 tbsp paprika
½ teaspoon cinnamon
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses
Juice 1/2 orange
1.5 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 large onion cut into wedges
To serve
Soft Greek flatbreads or pitas
Greek yoghurt or Tzatziki
Cut cucumber and tomatoes
Lemon wedges
Chips (I use thin-cut oven fries)
1 - Mix all the ingredients, excluding the onion wedges, together and rub them onto the lamb and marinate for a few hours or overnight – be sure to remove from the fridge approx. 1 hour before cooking
2 - Preheat the oven to 200*c.
3 – Place the lamb into a deep oven dish and surround it with the cut onions, pour 150ml of water into the bottom of the dish and cover tightly with foil
4 – Put the lamb in the oven and after 10 minutes turn it down to 175*c and cook for 3-4 hours, checking every hour to baste with the juices from the pan. Once it can easily be removed from the bone with a fork you know it's ready.
5 – Remove the foil and cook the lamb for a further 40 minutes.
6 - Cover loosely with foil and leave to rest for a minimum of 30 minutes.
7 – Shred or slice the meat from the bone and pour over a few tablespoons of the juices from the pan
8 - Serve on a platter with flatbreads, salads, lemon, Yoghurt and chips and let everyone build their own!
Prep ahead – the lamb can be cooked the day before, simply go up to step 7 and once cooled pop in the fridge juices and all – the next day about an hour before serving pour in 50ml of boiling water, cover with foil and pop the pan back in the oven at 170 for 30-45 minutes
