Everyone loves Italian food and Greek food but how do you combine the two for a tasty and easy tailgating recipe? Easy. Here’s a recipe for some Italian Sausage and Peppers wrapped in flat pita bread to make an Italian gyro. In order to pull this off for tailgating you’ll need a double sided grill, one with a griddle and the other side your grill. If you don’t have that option, bring a frying pan to place on a section of your grill and you will be in business.
What you’ll need:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
3 assorted peppers (orange, yellow and green for added color)
1 small jalapeño pepper
1 cup sliced white mushrooms
4 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 pound hot Italian sausage links
6 pita breads
1/2 cup large basil leaves
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
If you are a bit more health conscience after reading our
Tips for Healthy Tailgating, substitute regular Italian sausage for the low fat kind. Also, whole-wheat pita breads can be substituted as well. Same applies for the Parmesan cheese if you choose a low fat cheese.
As for the preparation, make sure to chop all the ingredients before leaving for the stadium and place them all in a resealable plastic bag. Feel free to measure out the spices before hand and put in a separate but smaller zipper bag or small Tupperware bowl. Who wants the hassle of breaking out measuring spoons while tailgating?
When you are ready to start cooking, heat the oil on your griddle over medium-high heat to begin. Add onions, peppers, mushrooms, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper, stirring occasionally. Cook the mixture until onions are golden brown or about 20 minutes.
While pepper mixture is cooking, cook the sausages until golden brown on the other side of your grill. Depending on the size of your sausages this should take approximately 10 to 15 minutes. Once golden brown, remove from the grill to a cutting board and let cool. Cut lengthwise.
While the grill is still warm, place the pita breads on the grill flipping frequently to warm and soften the breads. To assemble Gyros, lay out pitas on flat surface and cover with basil leaves and equal amount of pepper and onion mixture. Place cut sausage slices on top and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Roll each pita into a piece of aluminum foil in the shape of a hot dog. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce. Popular choices would be a marinara sauce for a more Italian flavor or a cucumber yogurt sauce for the more Greek flavor.
Serves 6
