Greekgasm: Lamb Sliders on Pita with an Apricot-Onion Relish

This last Sunday we had the rare treat to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner together. It felt like a vacation - especially with the weather jumping to the 70s - so we decided to end the day with a Greek-inspired meal. This dinner materialized partly due to our passionate love for sweet potato fries, and partly from another round of "Let's Play...Clean Out the Fridge!" 

We got turned onto the fries after becoming regulars at Circa, a local West Seattle favorite. Since we can't afford to eat there every day, we settle for a good compromise from the frozen section at PCC. We seem to buy these suckers on a weekly basis (hey, they're the "healthy" fries, right?) and pair them with a little ramekin of Melinda's Habañero Ketchup, ranch, and dijon. They are bar none our favorite side dish.

Circa also serves up a mean lamb burger so we were inspired to create our own slider version on pita bread. What started as a summer-time classic became a grand slam with the combination of a homemade apricot-onion relish, crisp cucumber, briny feta, and fresh mint folded into the lamb patties. Prepare to be overwhelmed.

Ingredients:

3/4 lb. ground lamb (for four pretty big sliders)

2 tbsp. Fresh mint, chopped

1/2 shallot, minced

2-3 garlic cloves, minced

A pinch of Cayenne pepper

1/2 tspn Dried oregano

2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce

1/2 sweet or yellow onion

1/4 cup dried apricots, roughly chopped

2 tbsp. apricot jam

Splash of white wine

Pita bread

Cucumber

Feta cheese

Salt and pepper

Caramelize the onion slices in a cast iron skillet until golden. We like to salt our onions while caramelizing. Add the apricots and cook for a few minutes more. Deglaze with some white wine and a touch of stock and reduce to a thick consistency. Meanwhile, combine the lamb with the shallot, mint, feta, and spices. Form into 4 small patties and grill until juicy. Warm the pita in a non-stick skillet hit with a touch of olive oil. Cut each pita into quarters and use two stacked quarters as a bun. Build the sliders with the lamb patties, feta, relish and cucumber. Opa!