Greek-style (gyro) meat loaf

In a city about 30 miles West of our home there is a locally-famous Greek restaurant. The restaurant prepares and serves fine examples of the kinds of Greek dishes you might expect, but the best things on their menu - in my humble opinion - are their specialty Greek pizzas.

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Greek pizza differs from other pizzas (I won't call them Italian) in that it often includes feta cheese and kalamata olives; but some Greek pizzas also use gyro meat - a kind of Greek-style meat loaf - and/or a variety of vegetable toppings that you don't generally find on pizza from other sources.

Now I like to make my own versions of things that I've enjoyed in restaurants, and one particular pizza from that restaurant is about my favorite. Making it at home surfaces a problem, though: there aren't many places outside of a Greek restaurant or gyro sandwich shop where you can buy gyro meat.

Surprisingly, an internet search will return any number of recipes for making your own gyro loaf. This one is my own variant on a recipe published by The Dread Pirate Paramour on allrecipes.com. I've tried both the original, and this one, and either one meets my target quality and flavor profile.

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In order to make this recipe easily, you'll need the following items:

Suggested Equipment:

• kitchen measures;
  
• mixing bowl (2 quart);
  
• food processor (minimum 2lb capacity)
  
• loaf pan(s)
  
• meat thermometer
  

Ingredients:

1. Lamb in general is rare in most markets that I frequent, and ground lamb can only be found in one grade, at one store.
   

Item		Amount
Beef	Ground, 85% lean or better	1	lb
Lamb	Ground, whatever grade you can get1	1	lb
Onion	Dry, flakes	¼	cup
Garlic	Dry, granulated	1	tsp
Oregano	Dry, ground	1	tsp
Cumin	Dry, ground	1	tsp
Marjorum	Dry, ground	1	tsp
Rosemary	Dry, ground	1	tsp
Thyme	Dry, ground	1	tsp
Black pepper	Dry, ground	1	tsp
Salt	Common	½	tsp

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl, and mix thoroughly by hand, then cover the bowl, and put it in the refrigerator. Allow it to "marinate" for at least one, and up to two hours.
2. After marinating, retrieve the bowl and put the meat mix into your food processor. Use the pulse function on a food processor to emulsify the meat. The target consistency is a very small particle size, and sticky texture. You may find it necessary to add (ice cold) water in small amounts, in order to achieve the desired consistency. Add no more than 1 tablespoon at a time.
3. Pack the meat emulsion into a loaf pan - the "1 pound" size works fine. Loaf pans are sized for making bread, and a pound of bread occupies a whole lot more space than a pound of meat! Put the loaf pan in a preheated, 350℉ oven.
4. Bake for about 1 hour - or until internal temperature of the loaf is 165℉ - then remove the loaf from the loaf pan, and place it on a cutting board. Let it "rest" for at least 10 minutes before slicing.
5. Cut the loaf into very thin slices, and keep the slices refrigerated until they are to be used.

Use the sliced loaf the way you would use any other gyro meat: e.g., put it in a folded pita with lettuce and tzatziki; or, what I mostly do, use it as a topping for a home-made Greek pizza! If you have leftover loaf, or aren't using the loaf immediately, it were best to reheat the slices in a sauce pan on the stove-top, when you do use it. The bit of extra browning from the reheating doesn't hurt either.