Improved Tortillia Kebabs (Kufta and Pita)

Rated 5.0 stars by 1 users

Cuisine

Middle Eastern

Author:

Jay Gleaton

Servings

Prep Time

45 minutes

Cook Time

30 minutes

So we made our first version of this viral trendy recipe extra simple and now I'm coming back to make the recipe extra well extra I guess. We are going to do a Jordanian style of kufta in between pita instead of tortilla to give us a puffier texture. We are also combining lamb and beef here to really bring out those rich flavors. We are basting these with a herby lemon and olive oil marinade while they cook and serving along side some of my favorite middle eastern side dishes. And of course we are going to make this a little bit SPICY for my fans!

Ingredients

½ pound Lamb
½ pound Beef
½ medium onion Grated and Drained

Spice Mix for the meat

1 tbsp Salt
1 1/2 tsp ground allspice
1 1/2 tsp Powerful Pepper Flakes
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
1/2 tsp ground green cardamom
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
Olive Oil

Marinade to brush on

1 Lemon Juiced
2 tbsp Rosemary chopped
3 tbsp Oilive Oil
1 tsp Pepper
1 tsp dijon mustard
Pinch Salt

View Cart (0) Checkout

Directions

Spread the spice mix for the meat over the ground beef, lamb, and drained and squeezed grated onions. Mix it all until well combined. I recommend putting on a disposable glove and then mixing with your hands. You can also do this in a kitchen-aid. Just mix it for a minute or so max.
Cut the corners off the round pita and separate the halves carefully until you have a bunch of square pitas that are the same size to work with. Layer a thin layer of the meat mixture and press it down flat with a tray wrapped in foil until it’s a uniform thickness of about ¼ inch. Get the meat all the way to the edge and then remove the excess back to the bowl. This part can be a bit messy but bear with me.
Start layering the pitas until you have a nice stack and you run out of the meat mixture.
Cut the stack in half and stack it back on top of itself again until you have a good 6-8 inch stack of layered meat and pita. I’m still not sure of the best way to do this next step. You can cut rectangles that are 1 inch wide and then insert skewers before your next cut to make one inch cubes or you can try to insert the skewers in a grid pattern. Experiment and let me know what works best. I’ll do the same!
paint the marinade on the skewers before grilling them and then it’s time to hot the coals. A medium heat on those coals is best, if they are really hot the pita will burn too quickly. Just a few minutes a side should do the trick depending on how thick these are.
You can make a garlic yogurt dipping sauce for these. Or serve with Tatziki! I also like just fresh onion, tomato, and sliced cucumber with these to add something light that goes with the heavier lamb and beef.