Do you know what I don't have enough of? Lamb. I like to eat a variety of dishes and cuisines but for some reason, I rarely eat lamb. It might partly be because it's difficult to find top-quality lamb that doesn't taste overly gamey. Well, I decided to search high and low and make a lamb dish because well, dammit, I wanted lamb. I had these spiced lamb pita wraps on my mind for weeks and I wasn't going to stop until I made them. Folks, I am happy to report that I found some great ground lamb and successfully made this lunch. And you know what? It was well worth the wait. And for another delicious pita wrap, check out these chicken tikka masala pita wraps, Greek spinach pita pockets, or cauliflower wraps with green hummus!
**Helpful tips and common mistakes
For me, pita wraps are one of the best lunches. It combines two of my favorites into one: Mediterranean food and sandwiches. It's more like a real fancy sandwich with spiced lamb patties, pickled onions, and a sizzled herb yogurt sauce, but I'm not complaining!
Okay so for the lamb. Since top-quality ground lamb can be difficult to find, you can easily substitute it for ground beef, turkey, or chicken. There are so many spices in the patty including coriander, paprika, cumin, cayenne, and cinnamon that it might fool you into thinking you're eating lamb.
Season the meat with the spices and shape them into small patties, about ¼ cup each. You don't want them too big or it will be difficult to eat in a pita wrap. I chose to broil the patties but you can also cook them on the stovetop or griddle, bake them in the oven, or grill them. Since the patties are small, they won't take long to cook.
For the sauce, we have a sizzled herb yogurt sauce that's kind of tzatziki...but not. It's yogurt-based like tzatziki but we're adding a ton of herbs and caramelized lemons to cool down the spices from the lamb.
Caramelize the lemons until slightly charred and chop them into small pieces, including the rind. Caramelizing the lemon will soften the rind and remove some of that bitterness, making it quite delightful.
Heat some olive oil until it starts to shimmer, remove from heat, and add the fresh herbs. Watch out for the oil because it will pop once you add the herbs (hence the name sizzled herbs!). Add the herbs along with the oil to the caramelized lemon, yogurt, and garlic grated. Season with salt and pepper and there you have the sauce.
Quickly pickle some red onion in boiling water, vinegar, sugar, and salt, and prepare the cherry tomatoes and cucumber. Feel free to make the sizzled herb yogurt sauce the day before as well as the pickled onions.
Homemade pita bread is awesome for these spiced lamb pita wraps but store-bought ones will also do just fine. Split the pita and stuff it to the brim with lamb patties, sizzled herb yogurt sauce, pickled onions, cherry tomatoes, and cucumbers.
So I made these pita wraps with both lamb and ground beef and I've gotta say, I loved both variations. All the spices are what make this meal a killer dish. From the spiced meat to the yogurt sauce to the pickled onions, this is the pita wrap of my dreams.
Recipe
Spiced Lamb Pita Wraps
Ingredients
Pickled onions
- ½ red onion thinly sliced
- ¼ cup boiling water
- ¼ cup distilled white vinegar
- ½ tablespoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
Sizzled herb yogurt sauce
- 3 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 2 lemon slices
- ¼ cup parsley fresh
- 2 tablespoons mint fresh
- 2 tablespoons dill fresh
- 1 tablespoon oregano fresh
- ½ cup Greek yogurt plain
- 1 garlic clove grated
- salt and pepper
Spiced lamb
- 1 pound ground lamb
- ¼ cup grated onion
- 1 tablespoon garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon coriander
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- ½ teaspoon cayenne
- pinch of cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Remaining ingredients
- 2 pita bread
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
- ¼ cup cucumber thinly sliced
Instructions
- Pickle the red onions. Combine boiling water with vinegar, sugar, and salt. Add the red onions and let sit for at least 30 minutes.
- Make the sizzled herb yogurt sauce. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the 2 lemon slices and cook until caramelized and the rind is softened, about 3-4 minutes. Remove the lemon and chop into small pieces.
- Chop parsley, mint, dill, and oregano. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil in the same pan and heat until the oil is shimmering. Turn off the flames and add the herbs. Let cool slightly. Combine the sizzled herbs and oil, caramelized lemon, grated garlic, and Greek yogurt. Season the yogurt sauce with salt and pepper.
- Season ground lamb with grated onion, minced garlic, coriander, paprika, cumin, cayenne, a pinch of cinnamon, salt, and black pepper. Shape the lamb into small patties, about ¼ cup each.
- Preheat broiler to high.
- Lay the lamb patties on a baking sheet and cook in the broiler for 7-8 minutes or until the juices run clear. Remove from heat.
- Assemble the spiced lamb pita wraps. Split open the pita bread and fill with the spiced lamb, cherry tomatoes, sliced cucumber, pickled onions, and sizzled herb yogurt sauce. Serve immediately.
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