Portobello Shawarma

harvest // blog issue 11

Epic Mushroom Shawarma

The custom of Shawarma is deep-rooted in Middle Eastern street food culture. Fragrant spice and preserved lemon-rubbed slices of meat, whether lamb, veal or turkey are layered in an epic fashion on rotisserie rods that slowly rotate next to hot coals or a vertical broiler. The outermost surface develops a delicious char, which is sliced to order and served on a fresh Lebanese flatbread with cucumber salsa and yoghurt. We created a plant-based rendition blasted in a smoldering 400º for the most mouth-watering smoky mushies in the world. Shaved from the rotisserie in traditional street-food fashion and loaded into a flatbread with tangy sumac yoghurt, a radish, cucumber salsa and earthy chickpea hummus. This shawarma could only be described as a Mezze platter burrito.

🍽 Serves 6 | 🕒 Prep Time: 30 min | Cook Time: 45 min | 🔪 Skill Level: Moderate

Ingredients

Portobello Spicy Lemon Rub

2 Preserved Lemons

½ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 Tbsp Smoky Paprika

2 Tbsp Ground Cumin

1 Tbsp Ras al Hanout (optional)

4 Garlic, cloves, minced

Pepper (to taste)

Shawarma

12 Portabello Mushrooms

8-10 Fresh Thyme Sprigs

1 Red/Purple Onion

Tip: To build and thread a stable mushroom shawarma, choose more flat portobellos at the store rather than thick “meaty” mushrooms. If you can only find large ones, slice them in half horizontally or trim some of the excess flesh from the lip of the mushroom to create a more flat shape.

Cucumber & Radish Salsa

6 Radishes, finely diced

6 inch. Cucumber, Seeds removed, diced

1 Lime, zest and juice

½ cup Mint leaves, finely shredded

Salsa Verde

3 Scallions/ Spring Onions

2 Garlic cloves

1 cup Cilantro, Fresh

1 cup Basil, Fresh

3 Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 Lemon or Lime, juice

To Serve

6 Mediterranean flatbreads or wholewheat wraps

1 cup Greek Yoghurt

1 tsp Ground Sumac

¼ cup Greek Feta Cheese (optional)

2 Radishes, thin shaved on a Mandolin

1 Lime, cut into wedges

Equipment

Long Metal Skewers 1½ ft. long

Frying Pan (finishing)

Rotisserie (optional)

Oven

Method

Spicy Lemon Rub

Remove any seeds from preserved lemon and mince the lemon flesh with a knife. Pound the rub ingredients together in a small bowl or using mortar and pestle to create a paste. This can also be done in a small food processor like our Braun.

Shawarma

Massage the lemon rub in and around each portobello mushroom.
Peel onion, remove the core and separate onion layers into large petals.
Thread portobellos onto rotisserie rod, separating each mushroom with a couple sprigs of thyme and peeled onion petals. Compact mushrooms together on the rod to hold it securely while cooking.
When you’re ready to roast, preheat oven to 475ºF/ 240ºC. Assuming many people don’t have the luxury of a traditional vertical “doner” rotisserie you can cook laying the mushroom stack horizontally over a large, deep roasting pan that will allow airflow around the shawarma. If your oven has a rotisserie function, program to a slow spin and position over a foil lined baking tray.
Roast for 20 minutes, rotating regularly throughout. After 20 minutes, remove from oven to baste the mushrooms with any juices in the pan. Return the mushrooms to finish for 15 minutes to achieve gnarly, charred edges.

Finishing and Serving

Remove shawarma from the oven and allow to cool before shaving the crispy mushroom edges from the stack. After shaving the exterior layers, you might find the inside less crunchy. Decide if you want to return to the oven to roast for an additional 10 minutes for a consistent texture throughout. Mushroom can be shaved, stored in the fridge and fried in a high heat frying pan with a teaspoon of olive oil to crisp and reheat when you’d like to serve.
Toast some wraps or flatbreads on a high heat frying pan to soften and color.
Call it a wrap, a vegan gyro, a doner kebab or otherwise. It’s shawarma building time! Layer your wrap with toppings of your choice. We’ve recommended our favorite combination of tangy sumac yoghurt, cucumber and radish salsa, herby salsa verde (or green sauce). Finish with a crumble of sharp greek feta and a squeeze of lime for a bright tang!
Optional, is our final decadent additional of baked Burrata cheese melted to bubbling perfection in a small frying pan in the oven for 10 minutes at 450ºF.

Wine Pairing

This exotic dish calls for wine that can contend with equally unique aromatics. The preserved lemon used in this dish caught my eye as a great element to pair with a zesty white wine. Gruner Veltliner is a variety native to Austria and is considered one of the best wine pairings for vegetarian dishes. Stylistically diverse from light and bright to rich and nutty. The smack-you- around-the-face flavors of preserved lemon, smoky paprika and cumin demands a high acid and peppery wine to balance.

Ott is an Austrian family-owned estate dedicated almost exclusively to Gruner, earning him the title ‘Mr Veltliner’. Winemaker Berhnard Ott crafts nearly every style and expression possible from acidic and fruity “am Berg” to mineral-rich amphora aged “Qvevre”. The 100% biodynamic estate is located in the North-West region of Austria in Wagram. Ott’s direction, is wines of elegance and simplicity, wines for pure enjoyment to savor with food and family.

2016, Gruner Ventliner, “AM Berg”, Ott, Wachau, Austria. RRP: $18.99 USD