Steak, spice rub, homemade pita, and an epic salsa. Hot damn, these Moroccan steak pitas are cracking - simple! This recipe was created with the Heirloom Alcala Grenache in mind which WHEN you read on you will get to know a little about the winery and the wine.
WHAT CUT OF STEAK IS BEST FOR MOROCCAN STEAK PITAS
Flank, skirt or hangar are my go-to steaks for this kind of recipe. They are cuts of meat that are typically marinated or have a rub applied to them. They are full of flavour but can be tough if cooked for too long. Once cooked, make sure you slice against the grain. Against the what? This means in the opposite way to the fibers. So, if you look at the steak and the grains run from left to right, then you need to slice the steak in the opposite direction, i.e., top to bottom. Slice these cuts thin, and you will be rewarded with perfection!
COOKING & RESTING STEAK
Cook them hot and fast. This means to bring the BBQ up to about 200c or have a heavy bottom pan and get it smoking hot. About 3 - 4 minutes each side (depending upon the thickness) or until they hit about 52-55c. The key is to take them off the heat then and rest them. When I rest my meat, I like to place it on a wire rack and pop a piece of tinfoil on top. Rest your meat for a minimum of 5 minutes, but 8 or so is best for this. What resting does is it allows the meat to reabsorb the juices and leaves you with a perfectly pink piece of meat. If you slice into the steak right away, all the juices will flow away and leave you with a brown looking piece of meat!
MOROCCAN STEAK RUB
7 spices went into making this spice rub. In Morocco, there are 27 "common" spices that go into the famous spice blend ras el hanout. Don't worry, I have tried my best to keep it as simple as possible. These are spices that are quite common in most household pantries. The beauty of this spice blend and spices, in general, is they have a cracking shelf life, so once you have bought them, you can make this dish over and over again. Salt, paprika, cayenne, clove, black pepper, cumin & ground ginger were the spices used.
It's SUPER simple to do - just grab a bowl, chuck them all in (measurements below) and stir it up. I would advise making double the amount because I can guarantee you that you will be making this again soon 😉
SALSA
You can't have a good steak pita without a good salsa, and this one is spot on!! It adds some beautiful freshness, a little extra spice kick, and sweetness from the raisins too. It takes about 10 minutes to put together, so my suggestion is as your steak is cooking, get the ingredients out, and once your meat is resting, start whipping up the salsa.
The beauty with the salsa too is it's all a rough chop. Yes, you can start getting precision cuts if you want but keep it rustic, this ain't the four seasons 😉 Tomatoes, raisins, fresh herbs in the form of mint & coriander, salt/pepper, cumin, olives & onions. A dash of olive oil and a job is done.
HOMEMADE PITA v's SHOP BOUGHT?
Homemade all the way - you can't beat freshly made pita bread. I literally could eat this every day! The only thing then is I would require some serious elastic pants!!! Homemade ones will take you just over an hour to make. Yes, it seems like AGES, but the truth is about 45 minutes of that hour is time for the dough to rise. So you can be getting the steak rubbed and BBQ heated while it's rising.
Now, don't get me wrong - I often buy store-bought baked items when I am in a hurry or just feeling lazy, but once you make these pita breads once you will see why you won't want store-bought anymore!
Also - when making the homemade pitas, you can make them in advance and heat them in the oven (wrapped in foil) or in the microwave (DEFINITELY not wrapped in foil!).
HEIRLOOM WINERY
What can I say - I love it! I think the wines of South Australia, in general, are becoming my favourite wines. From top drawer Rieslings, Chardonnays, delicious Sparklings to Pinot Noirs, Grenache & Shiraz, South Australia offers it all.
Heirloom winery is a young winery. Conceived in 2000, it took 7 vintages (wine years!) before they got to a point where they were happy with the product. Since then, it has gone from strength to strength. Headed up by Elena Brooks, who is also the mastermind winemaker behind Dandelion winery, she is doing some fantastic things. Unfortunately, there isn't a cellar door YET, but the wines are readily available and are 100% worth it. In fact, I would go as far as to say that their Alcazar Pinot Noir is probably my favourite Pinot at the moment. In my opinion, definitely a winery to keep your eye on!
WINE PAIRING
What to pair with this Moroccan steak pitas dish? Well, this was a pretty simple one. Given I created the recipe solely for the Heirloom Alcala Grenache, I would have to say that it's my first choice wine 😉
The wine comes from their finest Mclaren Vale vineyard. The vines are hand tended and sorted bunch by bunch. For those of you unsure what this means - quite simply, there is a LOT of love going into taking care of the grapes that go to making this wine. My 2 cents on the wine is it's a young fruity & spicy wine. It is drinking beautifully right now, but I think it'll be at it's best after a year or two in bottle. Lots of berries, cherries, tons of spice, and cracked black pepper. The tannins are velvety, nice earthiness in the form of mushrooms, and balanced acidity. My advice is to buy a 6 pack, decant and drink one now and then struggle not to drink the rest within a few months 😉
If you sign up to their site now, you will receive a $75 voucher to spend on your first order #winning
OTHER STEAK RECIPES
If you are inspired by this Moroccan steak pitas recipe and want more, then read on and feel inspired 😉
Korean Steak Tacos by Yours Truly
Grilled Steak w/ Beer Marinade & Salsa Fresca by Michele Peterson of 'A Taste For Travel'
Peppercorn Sauce by Yours Truly
Keto Skillet Steak w/ Mushroom Sauce by Anna Mazlin of 'Appetite For Energy'
Steak, Tomato & Brie Crostini by Yours Truly
Balsamic Herb Steak Salad by Amy Casey of 'Amy Casey Cooks'
If you make and (no doubt) enjoy this Moroccan steak pitas dish, then don't forget to let me know how you get on, tag me on Instagram!
Happy Cooking & Happy Eating Friends!!
Ingredients
Steak
- 500g steak skirt, flank or hangar see blog post
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp cayenne
- 1/2 ts[ ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Salsa
- 2 truss tomatoes
- 12 black olives
- 1/2 red onion
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 handful mint chopped
- 1 handful coriander chopped
- 50 g raisins
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1 pinch salt
Pita
- 300 g 00 flour plus extra for dusting
- 7 g yeast
- 240 ml warm water
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
Other
- 16 baby gem leaves
- 200 g Greek yoghurt
Instructions
Pita
- Add yeast, sugar & warm water to the bowl of a stand mixer, cover and leave for 5 minutes until yeast is frothy *see tips*
- Add flour, salt & oil and mix using a dough hook on medium speed until combined
- Turn out onto a floured surface, knead for a minute until smooth and place back in an oiled mixer bowl covered for 1 hour *see tips*
- Knock-back dough (punch it – it’s the best bit!) and turn out onto a floured surface
- Knead until smooth and then divide into 8 equal balls. Roll out until about 1cm thick and get ready to cook them
- Heat a cast-iron or heavy bottom pan until smoking, add canola oil and cook pita for 1-2 minutes on one side, brush with a little oil, flip and cook for a further minute
Steak
- Mix all spices together
- Drizzle the steak with oil and rub with spices. Set aside until you are ready to cook the pitas *see tips*
- Heat a BBQ to 200c and cook the steak for approx. 4 minutes per side or until steak is 52-55c internal temp *see tips*
- Rest steak for 8-10 minutes and then slice thinly
Salsa
- Chop onion, tomato & olives into equal sized pieces and mix all ingredients together
- Taste and adjust seasoning
Assembly
- Place pita on a plate, top with 2 pieces of baby gem, a tbsp of yoghurt, 2 slices of steak and a spoon of salsa
- Demolish!
Notes
Essential Tools
- chef knives
- chopping board
- cast-iron/heavy bottom pan
- BBQ
- mixing bowl
- stand mixer
- rolling pin
- measuring utensils
Tips/Tricks
- when making the pita the water needs to be around 41-43c to activate the yeast
- don’t mix the oil and spices together before putting on the steak or else you will be left with a big lumpy mess!
- if you prep the steak while the pita is rising it will be at perfect room temperature to cook as you go to cook the pita. Steak should always be brought to room temperature before cooking
- resting the steak is equally as important as the cooking part to allow the juices to re-distribute. During this time you can cook the pita so they are hot & fresh!
- if you don’t have a stand mixer you can knead the dough by hand. It’ll take a little longer to do so consider it your arm workout for the day!
Looks delicious. Love homemade wraps.