The Capsule Pantry: Southern Mediterranean Wraps 14 Ways
Warning: these are seriously addictive
Welcome to The Capsule Pantry. Highly flexible, waste-reducing recipes delivered to your inbox every Wednesday, designed to be adapted to what’s in your fridge and pantry. The Capsule Pantry is paid-subscriber only. If you’d like full access, sign up for $5 a month or $50 a year and revolutionize the way you cook today
Is there anything better than grilled meat (or veggies) wrapped in bread shoved in your face hole?
I think not.
Luckily for me (but perhaps not for my gut) I’ve recently spent a few weeks in Albania — a country with an excellent food scene (it surprised me too).
And they have Gyros. Lots of Gyros.
Gyros is the Greek name for pita bread smeared with tzatziki (cucumber and garlic yogurt), packed with tomatoes, slices of pork (or chicken), and even a couple of fries. It’s to be eaten frequently and with gusto, ideally at 2 am after a couple of beers (but I’ve been known to scoff them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner).
These wraps — meat, yogurt, and vegetables — can be found anywhere the Ottoman Empire had an influence, from the doner kebab to the shwarma to the souvlaki. I’ve rather clumsily grouped them together here as “southern Mediterranean wraps.” Unimaginative yes, but if the glove fits…
They’re incredibly easy to make at home - I must make a version at least once a week - and can be personalized in infinitely different ways. Which of course is exactly what we love here at Simple and Straightforward.
Welcome to the best wrap of your life.
The original recipe
Serves 4
Two quantities original flatbread recipe (or buy wraps if you don’t want to faff with making bread)
500g / 1lb pork shoulder, loin, or leg cut as thin as you can into strips
1 medium white onion, cut thinly into half moons
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and ground (or use ground cumin)
1 large tomato cut in half
1/2 lemon, squeezed
1 tsp chili flakes
To serve
Parsley, chopped
Tomatoes, sliced
Cucumber, sliced
Hot sauce
For the tzatziki
225g / 1 cup plain yogurt
1 cucumber, peeled, deseeded and grated (squeeze out as much water from the pulp as you can)
1 clove of garlic smashed to a paste
Dried / fresh (chopped) dill and mint (approx 1 tsp each)
Method
Make the tzatziki by throwing all ingredients into a bowl and mix. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Place a skillet over a medium / high heat with a little bit of oil and fry the pork until the strips are golden.
Take them out of the pan, turn down the heat and add the onion (you may need to add more oil at this point), frying until softened.
Throw in the garlic and fry for a minute or two, being careful not to catch it.
Return the pork to the pan, then add the cumin and chili flakes. Fry on medium heat for a minute or so until the cumin becomes fragrant.
Take each half of the tomato and squeeze out the contents into the pan as if it was a lemon.
Add the lemon juice.
Bubble the mixture for another couple of minutes, add a tiny splash of water if the mixture becomes too dry.
Turn off the pan and make your flatbreads.
As the final flatbread cooks, re-heat the mixture.
Put the tzatziki, meat, flatbreads, sliced tomatoes, cucumbers and hot sauce on the table and let everyone make their own wrap.
If you’re feeling extra authentic, cook up a handful of fries and add to the proceedings.
Variations
The meat (or indeed, vegetables)
This is a brilliant way to use up leftover roast meats. If you had a Sunday lunch this week, chop up the cooked meat and make as above from step two.
Another easy marinade for the meat:
2 cloves of crushed garlic
Juice of half a lemon
1 tbsp red wine
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp oregano
Yet another great marinade:
2 cloves of crushed garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp each smoked paprika, cumin, oregano, turmeric
Juice of half a lemon
Veggie? Easy. Aubergine would work brilliantly here as would red peppers and mushrooms.
If you’re so inclined, you could grill the pork on the BBQ. Use the cumin, garlic and lemon juice as a rub on a whole chunk of pork, cook as per your BBQ’s instructions, slice up and go.
Of course, you could use lamb, beef, or pretty much any other meat instead of pork.
The yogurt
Omit the garlic and/or cucumber if you don’t like it / don’t have any.
This dish is also great as a spiced yogurt. Turmeric, ground cumin and coriander and ras el hanout are all great spices to use. Take a teaspoon or so of each, mix through the yogurt and season with salt and pepper.
Use vegan yogurt as an alternative to dairy.
The flatbreads
As I say, use storebought wraps if you don’t want to make your own.
Flatbreads are easily batched. Make plenty in advance and freeze them. Defrost by heating them in the oven wrapped in tin foil.
Omit the flatbreads entirely - the meat is awesome over rice too.