Ingredients
French Fried Potatoes:
- 3 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes (skin on)
- Sunflower oil for frying
- Sea Salt
Sheftalia:
- 225 g pork caul fat
- 1/4 cup vinegar
- 2 lbs medium ground pork
- 1 cup finely diced cooking onion
- 1 cup finely chopped Italian flat leaf parsley
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
Pork Souvlaki:
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsps fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 2 1/2 lbs pork tenderloin
Sheftalia and Souvlaki Pita Fixings:
- 1 large heirloom red tomato, ½-inch diced
- 1 English cucumber, ½-inch diced
- 1cup ¼-inch diced sweet onion
- 3/4 cup finely chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley leaves and tender stems
For serving:
- 6-8 Lebanese Style Pita Bread
- 6-8 Lemon wedges
- Bread and Butter Pickle rounds
- Hot Green Pickle peppers
Directions
For the French Fried Potatoes:
- Scrub potatoes well (leave skin on).
- Cut potatoes into ¼–½ inch fries. Ensure you cut them in uniform size for even cooking.
- Submerge fries in an ice bath for 30 minutes. This removes excess starch and prevents soggy fries.
- Drain, rinse and dry extremely well with towel.
- Fill a deep heavy duty large pot 1/3 way up with oil. Heat oil to 325°F / 165°C. Fry potatoes in batches for even cooking. Do not over crowd. Fry for 4–5 minutes until pale in colour and soft. Remove and place on a rack or paper towel. Let them rest for 10 minutes.
- Increase oil to 375°F / 190°C. Fry again for 2–3 minutes until deep golden and crisp.
- Season with a generous amount of sea salt immediately while hot.
For the Sheftalia:
- To prepare caul fat, place in a large bowl and cover with cold water. Add in vinegar and let stand to soak while you prepare the meat mixture.
- In another large bowl, with wet hands, mix all ingredients together.
- Drain caul fat and rinse well with cold water.
- Spread out caul fat on a clean work surface. Take 2 tablespoons of pork mixture and form into a 2 ½-inch long sausage. Place sausage 1-inch from top edge of caul fat. Fold the top edge over sausage and then fold both sides over. Roll sausage in caul fat until fully encased, then cut off remaining caul fat. Repeat with remaining caul fat and pork mixture to make 25 sheftalia.
- Lay two 12-inch metal skewers side by side ¾-inch apart. Skewer 5 sheftalia through the pair of skewers. Repeat with remaining sheftalia. You’ll need 10 skewers.
- Preheat grill to medium-high heat. Oil well to prevent sheftalia from sticking.
- Place the skewers on the grill for 8-10 minutes, turning every 2-3 minutes until all sides are lightly charred and sheftalia is cooked through.
Tip: You can get pork caul fat from your local butcher. It’s very inexpensive and adds so much flavour. If you’re unable to find caul fat, sheftalia can also be made without it. You’ll need to cook them directly on a well-greased grill instead of skewering them.
Sheftalia can be made a day aead and stored in an airtight container and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before grilling. Raw Sheftalia can be frozen up to 3 months. When ready to grill, thaw out overnight in the refrigerator.
For the Pork Souvlaki:
- In a medium bowl, whisk together oil, lemon, salt and pepper. Cut pork tenderloin into 1-inch pieces and place them in a bowl. Toss them with marinade until well coated. Cover and place in refrigerator to marinate for 4 hours.
- Bring to room temperature and stir well before skewering.
- Preheat grill to medium-high heat. Oil well to prevent souvlaki from sticking.
- Skewer pork pieces on skewers and brushing with remaining marinade left in the bowl.
- Place the skewers on the grill for 8-10 minutes turning every 2-3 minutes until all sides are lightly charred and pork is cooked through.
For serving:
- To assemble pita sandwiches, lay the pita’s flat and spread a generous amount of Tahini. Add your fixings and top with sheftalia, pork souvlaki and fries. Finish with a good squeeze of lemon.
- Serve with a side of pickles, peppers and extra fries.