Well summer has been a bit hit and miss in the UK this year hasn’t it. We had a brief heat wave and before we knew it it was back to jeans and log fires in the evening.
However you could always pretend you are somewhere warm by conjuring up a delicious Cypriot souvlaki with tzatziki & pickles. James Villas asked me to recreate celebrity chef Jo Pratt’s dish inspired by the top UK tourist destination, Cyprus. #MyHolidayDish Cypriot souvlaki is Cyprus’ version of fast food, small chunks of marinated pork served with pitta or flat breads and refreshing tzatziki.
And if the sun is shining then these make perfect BBQ food. Jo’s recipe includes serving these with pickled chillies and grated courgette but we had pickled cucumbers and pickled red cabbage with ours as I love both!
Cypriot Souvlaki recipe
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Cook time:
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Serves: 8 kebabs
- 1 kg pork shoulder or neck diced into 2.5cm pieces
- Juice of ½ lemon
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried paprika
- 2 cloves of garlic, peeled & crushed
- sea salt & black pepper
- Olive oil
- Flatbreads/pitta bread...we used wraps
- 4 tomatoes cut into wedges
- 1 red onion thinly sliced
- ½ cucumber finely sliced
- handful of flat leaf parsley
- ½ cabbage finely sliced or 2 grated courgettes (we had pickled red cabbage)
- Pickled chillies
- Lemon wedges
- Serve with tzatziki (recipe below)
- Put the meat in a bowl with the lemon juice, oregano, paprika, garlic, a pinch of salt and pepper and a generous glug of olive oil. Mix together, cover and place in the fridge for at least an hour. If you are really organised leave it over night.
- Preheat the grill or bbq.
- Thread the pork onto metal skewers (if using wooden ones remember to soak them in water for at least 30 mins, pref longer)
- Cook the kebabs under a high grill for 8-10mins turning to ensure they are cooked through.
- Serve with the pickles, lemon wedges and salad and a generous spoonful of tzatiki.
Obviously you can buy your tzatziki but homemade is so easy to make and tastes even better…
Homemade Tzatziki recipe
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- ½ cucumber
- sea salt
- 200g Greek yogurt
- Handful chopped dill or mint
- 1 clove of garlic, crushed
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp red or white wine vinegar
- Peel the cucumber and scoop out the seeds
- Finely chop the cucumber and place in a sieve.
- Sprinkle sea salt over the cucumber and leave to drain over a bowl for 15 minutes
- Put the yogurt, chopped herbs, garlic, olive oil & vinegar into a bowl and mix.
- Squeeze any excess juice from the chopped cucumber and then add the cucumber to the yogurt mixture.
- Mix together well and season with salt.
Thank you to James Villas for sending me the ingredients to make this #MyHolidayDish and bring a little sunshine into our home.