I have finally found the perfect alternative to a meat based gyros and I am way too excited. This god sent ingredient is...mushrooms (yet again)!!! More specifically, king oyster mushrooms, shredded into small pieces and seasoned perfectly, creating the best filling for a veggie/vegan gyro souvlaki. Another thing that makes this gyros the best you've ever had is because the pita bread is homemade and so much better than any store bought ones.
Ingredients:
for the fillings:
-king oyster mushrooms
-olive oil
-hot paprika
-BBQ sauce
-salt/pepper
-potatoes
-red bell pepper
-red cabbage
-greek yogurt
-olives
-lemon
-dill
-spring onion
for the pita bread:
-80ml milk
-40ml water
-1 tbsp dry yeast
-1/2 tbsp sugar
-1 tbsp olive oil
-pinch of salt
-160g all purpose flour
Let's start by making the pita bread as the dough will need a couple of hours to prove. Make sure the milk and water are in room temperature and then add the yeast and mix well until it's dissolved. Allow the yeast to start activating for 10mins before mixing in the dry ingredients. Once you've mixed the flour, sugar and salt, add the liquids and a drizzle of olive oil and start kneading the dough. Place in a big bowl, cover with cling film and a tea towel and place it in a warm spot in the room. Once it's grown twice its size, roll the dough out into a thin circular shape (this recipe makes 2 big pitas or 4 small ones depending on what you want) and cook in an oiled pan with a tiny bit of salt.
Turning our attention now to the gyros, which is essentially the star of the show. Take a fork and simply pull the mushroom outwards creating these thin shredded pieces. Season with some salt, pepper, hot paprika, dry basil or any other spice you like, drizzle some olive oil and pop them in the oven for 15mins at 180° to create those crispy edges. Next step is simply tossing them in a pan with some BBQ sauce but if you're not a fan of BBQ sauce you can honestly skip this step as the mushrooms will already taste amazing.
A traditional gyro souvlaki has fillings such as, yogurt or tzatziki, tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber, chips and of course the meat but I decided to change it up a little bit by adding red cabbage, which I seasoned with some salt/pepper and a bit of lemon juice, thin slices of red bell pepper, olives, greek yogurt and the chips of course. A little bit of dill and spring onion to garnish can be added too.
