Meat Loaf Gyros Recipes

GYRO MEATLOAF

Steps:

• Place oven rack in lower-middle position and heat to 350°.
• Lightly spray bottom and sides of a loaf pan with vegetable oil spray and set aside.
• Break up ground lamb and beef into a large bowl and add bread crumbs, parsley, egg, egg white, garlic, cumin, salt and pepper; using clean hands, combine the mixture well, then lightly press meat mixture together, lift it out of the bowl and place in prepared pan.
• Using a small spatula, pull mixture up and away from the sides of the pan and smooth out the top.
• Bake 60 minutes, or until a thermometer inserted in the center reads 150°; cool to room temperature, remove from pan and wrap in plastic wrap, then into foil; refrigerate until serving time.
• Before serving, slice the chilled meatload and cook in a nonstick frying pan until crisp; serve in pita rounds (which you can warm and brown in the same pan as the meat) with tzatziki sauce**there are many excellent tzatziki sauces listed here on Zaar so I didn't add my own, do a search and choose what looks best to you.

TRADITIONAL GYRO MEAT

Steps:

• Place the onion in a food processor, and process until finely chopped. Scoop the onions onto the center of a towel, gather up the ends of the towel, and squeeze out the liquid from the onions. Place the onions into a mixing bowl along with the lamb and beef. Season with the garlic, oregano, cumin, marjoram, rosemary, thyme, black pepper, and salt. Mix well with your hands until well combined. Cover, and refrigerate 1 to 2 hours to allow the flavors to blend.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• Place the meat mixture into the food processor, and pulse for about a minute until finely chopped and the mixture feels tacky. Pack the meat mixture into a 7x4 inch loaf pan, making sure there are no air pockets. Line a roasting pan with a damp kitchen towel. Place the loaf pan on the towel, inside the roasting pan, and place into the preheated oven. Fill the roasting pan with boiling water to reach halfway up the sides of the loaf pan.
• Bake until the gyro meat is no longer pink in the center, and the internal temperature registers 165 degrees F (75 degrees C) on a meat thermometer, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Pour off any accumulated fat, and allow to cool slightly before slicing thinly and serving.

GYRO MEAT LOAF WITH TZATZIKI SAUCE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, combine the first eight ingredients. Crumble lamb over mixture and mix well. Shape into a loaf and place in a greased 11x7-in. baking dish., Bake, uncovered, 55-60 minutes or until no pink remains and a thermometer reads 160°. Let stand 15 minutes before slicing. Serve with tzatziki sauce. Freeze option: Securely wrap and freeze cooled meat loaf in plastic wrap and foil. To use, partially thaw in refrigerator overnight. Unwrap meat loaf; reheat on a greased shallow baking pan in a preheated 350° oven until a thermometer inserted in center reads 165°.

GYRO MEATLOAF IN CROCKPOT

Steps:

• Mix all meat together with spices (no lemon) and let sit in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Blend in a food processor to smooth texture and shape into a spit.
• GRILL:.
• (Optional) Squeeze lemon juice over meat. Form into an oblong loaf around a spit. Slow cook over a grill fro around 30-45 minutes. Cook far from the coals or gas burner, and ratate slowly.
• OVEN:.
• Alternatively, shape as a loaf and bake in the oven. (Optional) Squeeze lemon juice over loaf. Bake meatloaf for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, at 325ºF. It should be a bit dry.
• CROCKPOT:.
• Alternatively, to cook in a crockpot, mix together all ingredients except onion and garlic. After blending and forming, place onions and garlic surrounding shaped spiced meat in a crockpot. (Optionally) Squeeze lemon juice over loaf and cook on LOW for 3-4 hours, or on HIGH for 2 hours. Remove meat carefully (will be very flimsy from crockpot).
• TZATZIKI SAUCE:.
• Place the yogurt in a tea towel, gather up the edges, suspend over a bowl, and drain for 2 hours in the refrigerator. Place the chopped cucumber in a tea towel and squeeze to remove the liquid; discard liquid. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the drained yogurt, cucumber, salt, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, and mint. Serve as a sauce for the gyros. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to a week.
• SERVE:.
• Gyro meat thinly sliced over pita bread with Tzatziki Sauce and veggies.

GRECIAN MEATLOAF GYROS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the egg, garlic, oregano, kosher salt and pepper. Crumble lamb and beef over mixture; mix well.
• Pat into an ungreased 9-x5x3-inch loaf pan.
• Bake, uncovered, at 350°F for 60-70 minutes or until no pink remains and a meat thermometer reads 160°F.
• Cool completely on a wire rack.
• Refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
• For sauce, in a small bowl, combine the yogurt, cucumber, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate until serving.
• Brush pita breads with 1 tablespoon oil; heat on a lightly greased griddle for 1 minute on each side. Keep warm.
• Cut meatloaf into very thin slices. In a large skillet, fry meatloaf in remaining oil in batches until crisp.
• On each pita bread, layer tomato, onion and meatloaf slices; top with some tzatziki sauce.
• Carefully fold pitas in half.
• Serve with remaining sauce.

GREEK GYRO MEATLOAF WITH CUCUMBER YOGURT SAUCE

Steps:

• For Loaf:.
• Combine meat and gyro mix in a bowl, mix together well with hands (if using tofu, let rest 10 minutes after mixing before next step).
• Form into a loaf shape and place in a loaf or baking pan.
• Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes or until meat is cooked.
• For Sauce:.
• Mix all ingredients together.
• Serve loaf with sauce.
• For Vegetarian use only the Tofu.

GYRO LOAF WITH TSATZIKI SAUCE

Steps:

• Mix loaf ingredients together and shape into a freeform loaf in a baking pan.
• Bake at 375°F for about 1 hour 15 minutes.
• Once loaf has cooled to room temperature or has chilled in the refrigerator, slice it as thin as possible (maximum of 1/4 inch).
• Serve it warm or at room temperature.
• Can be served in pitas, flatbreads or tortillas with lettuce, tomato, black olives, feta cheese and Tsatziki Sauce or as a main course with a Greek salad, pasta salad or potato salad.