Lamb Pizza

I love Greek food.

I really, really do. Actually I like most European food. I love lasagne, baguettes, shepards pies, tapas, sauerkrauts, apple strudel, and Belgian chocolates. I love pasta, croissants, bangers and mash, chorizos, poffertjes, giant pretzels, and speculoos.

(Can you guess which countries these are from?) (Also, if I've gotten a food's country of origin wrong, I apologise. This is based on personal experience.)

But other than that, I also love Greek food. I love the flavours, I love lamb and I love the vegetables commonly found in Greek dishes. Now this dinner, is very Greek. And if I say so myself, very delicious.

This is such a fabulous dinner. Now, I know the calories are somewhat high, but remember it is dinner, and this pizza is full of amazing vegetables, lean meat and the base is a delicious wholemeal pita bread. You've got four food groups here; dairy, vegetables, lean meat and wholegrains. This is one of the best pizzas I have ever made. I know it isn't a homemade pizza base, but it doesn't need to be - and it is certainly a healthier option.

If you love the flavours of Greek food, you will love this dish. Just add more rosemary and lemon if you want. But even without extra juices, this is a very Greek dish - tasty, lean lamb, drizzled lemony yoghurt, thick sweet potato, and fresh rosemary. You really can't go wrong.

I can't even begin to tell you that you need to make this. The pictures do not do this justice. Just trust me - I haven't steered you wrong before, right?

Level of Difficulty: Easy, but a little time consuming. Lots of steps to follow, but nothing too hard to cook

Average Cost: $

Main Ingredients: lamb, Greek yoghurt, rosemary

Menu Options: I wouldn’t actually change too much with this recipe. I’m sure you could change the veggies around if you want to, but I would definitely recommend trying this recipe as is first.

Makes 4 pizzas

What you need:

For the pizza:

-          8 – 12 lamb cutlets

-          1 small lemon

-          2 tsp dried rosemary / 1 entire sprig of fresh rosemary

-          1 crushed garlic clove

-          4 wholemeal pita bread

-          4 tbsp tomato paste

-          1 large sweet potato

-          2 small regular potatoes

-          2 tomatoes

-          1 cup spinach

-          12 slices mozzarella cheese

For the sauce:

-          3 tbsp Greek yoghurt

-          1 tbsp water

-          1 tbsp lemon juice

-          1 crushed garlic clove

What to do:

In a small bowl combine the juice of half of the lemon, the dried rosemary and the crushed garlic clove. Mix well. Marinate the lamb cutlets in the juice and refrigerate cutlets for 20 minutes until the lamb cutlets are soaked in the juice.

In a large frypan, heat a few small drops of olive oil over medium high heat. Cut the fat off the lamb cutlets and fry in the pan until the meat is tender. Be careful not to overcook the meat, as it also has to go in the oven as well. If it is still pink, that is totally fine.  It will take approximately five minutes on each side.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius and let the lamb stand for a few minutes.

Place the four pita breads on a tray and spray both the tray and tops of pita breads with oil spray. Divide the tomato paste between the pizzas – spread 1 tbsp of tomato paste on each pizza.

Slice the sweet potato, potato and tomato finely. Layer the two types of potatoes over the bases of each pizza. Divide the spinach between the pizzas – there should be about a ¼ cup of spinach per pizza. Also divide the tomato slices evenly between the pizzas – make sure the tomato slices cover the spinach.

Add the cooked lamb cutlets to the top of the pizzas and place the mozzarella slices over pizza not covered with lamb. There should be three mozzarella slices on each pizza.

The spinach and tomato should be in the centre of the pizza, with the potato layered on the base, with the meat and cheese on top of the spinach and tomato.

Squeeze the juice of the other half of the lemon over the top of the four pizzas. Add extra rosemary if you wish.

Cook in the oven for 10-20 minutes. The bases should be crispy, the potatoes soft and well cooked, yet the lamb should not be overcooked.

While the pizzas are cooking, make the sauce. In a large bowl combine the remaining four ingredients and stir well. The sauce should be relatively runny, and not as thick as regular Greek yoghurt.

Once the pizza is cooked, drizzle the sauce over the top. Serve while hot, but make sure the pizza does not burn your mouth – the potato and tomato will be deceivingly hot.