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Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Greek Pizza and Dead Letter Office Shiraz

When we lived in Cleveland, Mike and I loved this pizza place that was on the first floor of our building. Our favorite pie was their Greek pizza which included Gyro meat as one of the toppings. Now I don’t have a spit and a broiler to make my own gyro meat, but have figured out a tasty alternative. I made this pizza last week when a lamb-loving friend came over for a week night supper.


WINE: 2007 Henry’s Drive “Dead Letter Office” Shiraz, Padthaway (Australia)
http://www.henrysdrive.com/our-wines/henrys-drive-reserve-shiraz

We first discovered Henry’s Drive wines and in particular, the Dead Letter Office when I worked for WineStyles in Coronado. A couple of weeks ago, Mike and I popped in a BevMo and were delighted to find the 2007 vintage. I knew a Syrah or Grenache or a Rhone blend would pair well with this pizza. Our friend also loves Syrah, so thought it would be fun to try an Australian version with the meal.

This Shiraz was a fantastic pizza wine. The nose displays chocolate and berries. On the palate, the wine is lush and smooth beginning with dark berries, cinnamon spice and a chocolate finish. It did need time to breathe, so open it up when you place the pizza stone in the oven.

RECIPE: Greek Pizza

In my Homemade Pizza Blog Post, I give a lot of tips on using a pizza stone as well as my recipe for pizza dough and red and white pizza sauce. I made this pizza with white sauce, but I think it would also be great with the red sauce too (I just haven’t tried it yet).

Ingredients:
• Pizza dough
• ¼ cup corn meal
• White Pizza Sauce (or Red Pizza Sauce)
• 2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
• ½ lb of “gyro meat” (recipe below)
• 1 roma tomato, diced
• ¼ cup of onion, diced
• ¼ cup feta cheese
• ¼ cup sliced or chopped olives (I prefer kalamata)
• ½ tsp dried oregano leaves

Directions:
1. Place pizza stone in oven and turn oven to 450° or 500°. Let heat for 30 minutes.
2. Sprinkle paddle or cutting board (whatever you will use to transfer pizza onto pizza stone) with corn meal.
3. Roll out pizza dough. Add more corn meal if dough is sticking to surface.
4. Top pizza dough with white or red pizza sauce.
5. Spread mozzarella cheese over pizza dough leaving a small rim for the crust.
6. Spread gyro meat over the cheese.
7. Sprinkle olives, onions, tomatoes, and feta cheese over pizza.
8. Sprinkle oregano over top.
9. Slide pizza onto pizza stone in oven.
10. Bake for 8 – 10 minutes until cheese begins to brown.
11. Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes before cutting and eating.

RECIPE: “Gyro Meat”

Ingredients:
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 lb ground lamb***
• 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp pepper

Directions:
1. Heat olive oil in pan on medium high
2. Sauté garlic for 2 minutes.
3. Add ground lamb, oregano, onion powder, salt and pepper.
4. Stir seasoning in lamb and break lamb into small pieces.
5. Cook until no longer pink.

***You only need ½ lb of meat for the pizza. However, I usually find ground lamb in 1 lb. portions. I like to make it all. You can then freeze the leftovers for another pizza. Or you can use the leftovers to make wraps the next day. I use the leftover feta and olives from the pizza, plus diced tomatoes and lettuce. An easy and delicious lunch!

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