September has begun and the weather is, it’s fair to say, bloody awful. The new rain coat I bought from M&S has been getting a lot of use this week. Summer is finally over and it’s time to pack up our bikinis and sandals in favour of cardis and warm boots and scarves.
Not that I’m sad about this, you understand. There are many, many good things about the weather getting colder. For one thing I’m Welsh and ginger, so I don’t do the best in hot weather. For another, men look bloody lovely in the autumn (it’s something about coats and scarves and my husband in particular in a flat cap) so I’m looking forward to falling in love twelve times per commute. The weather getting colder is the perfect excuse for me to have hot chocolate on a daily basis – I’ve had three today. And most importantly, just because the weather is crap doesn’t mean we have to eat like the weather is crap. Sure, we get lovely warming soups and stews and pies – but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy something beautiful and summery that reminds us of our holidays.
Hence this recipe.
So, this is for the #MyHolidayDish campaign for James Villas. They sent me a hamper with the ingredients for this recipe, I make the recipe and eat it, then I share the recipe with you, everybody wins. This recipe for souvlaki is from the Jo Pratt In The Mood For Healthy Food cookbook. Souvlaki is basically pork marinaded in herbs and lemon juice, then grilled until golden and served with salad and flatbread or pitta.
I knew it was going to be a good recipe from the moment I tossed the chunks of pork shoulder in the lemon juice, oregano, garlic and paprika. It smelt utterly divine – as did, in fact, my whole flat.
Thread this meat onto skewers and grill for 15 minutes, turning frequently, until the meat is golden and slightly charred.
Then you just stuff if into a pitta with some sliced cabbage/grated courgette and tzatziki. I made my own tzatziki for the first time with this – it was easy and delicious, so I thoroughly recommend you try it out too!
I set the meat the marinate the night before I served it, and then spent twenty minutes in the kitchen the next day to get a really delicious dinner. It’s a super speedy after-work supper that tastes so good it makes every second you spent making it worth it. Huge thanks to James Villas for sending this over to me – it’s something I’ve never tried before but definitely will be doing again.
If you have a go at this, don’t forget to take a picture and send it to me along with the hashtag #MyHolidayDish x
- 1kg of pork shoulder or neck cut into 2cm pieces
- The juice of a lemon
- 2 teaspoons of dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon of paprika
- 2 cloves of garlic, grated
- 4 pittas/flatbreads
- 1 red onion, finely sliced
- 4 tomatoes, cut into wedges
- Half a cucumber, sliced
- 2 grated courgettes or half of a finely sliced cabbage
- Lemon wedges to serve
- Half a cucumber, peeled
- 200g Greek yogurt
- A small handful of finely chopped mint
- 1 clove of garlic, grated
- 2 teaspoons of red wine vinegar
- Put the meat into a bowl. Mix with the lemon, oregano, paprika, garlic, and some salt and pepper. Stir to coat the meat, cover, and leave to marinade overnight (or for at least 2 hours)
- Thread the meat onto metal skewers and set the grill to high
- Start making the tzatziki. Take the peeled half of a cucumber and cut it in half lengthways. Scoop out the seeds and discard them. Grate the cucumber flesh and put it into a sieve. Sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt and leave to drain for 15 minutes
- Put the pork under the grill, turning occasionally, and cook for 15 minutes. You want them to look golden and charred
- Whilst the pork is cooking add the Greek yogurt to a bowl with the mint, garlic and vinegar
- After 15 minutes, remove the pork from the grill. Put the bread under the heat briefly to warm up
- Squeeze the water out of the cucumber and add to the yogurt. Mix well, adding salt and pepper as needed
- Remove the meat from the bread. Pile salad into the bread, followed by the pork and a good dollop of tzatziki. Serve immediately
This sounds lovely ive tried it before but wasnt to impressed but will defo try this how many syns do you think this is ?