Arayes – Lebanese Meat-Stuffed Crispy Pita
Lebanese street food – pita bread stuffed with spiced kofta meat, pan fried until crispy
Ingredients
- ▢ 5 pita bread the thin pocket type, ~15cm/6" diameter (250g/8oz pack), cut in half (Note 1)
- ▢ Olive oil spray or brush with olive oil
SPICED MEAT FILLING:
- ▢ 1/2 brown onion
- ▢ 500g/ 1 lb lamb or beef mince ground meat (Note 2)
- ▢ 2 garlic cloves finely grated
- ▢ 1 tbsp finely chopped parsley optional
- ▢ 3 tsp ground coriander
- ▢ 3 tsp ground cumin
- ▢ 1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika sub plain paprika
- ▢ 3/4 tsp ground allspice sub mixed spice
- ▢ 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper reduce/omit for less spicy – Note 4
- ▢ 1 1/4 tsp cooking/kosher salt
WHIPPED TAHINI YOGURT SAUCE:
- 1 cup plain yogurt
- ▢ 2 tbsp tahini or Chinese sesame paste – Note 5
- ▢ 1 tbsp lemon juice
- ▢ 1 garlic clove finely grated
- ▢ 1/2 tsp cooking/kosher salt
Instructions
SPICED MEAT FILLING:
- Grate the onion in a bowl using a standard box grater. We want the juices and all!
- Meat filling – Add remaining meat filling ingredients. Mix well with your hands.
- Divide stuffing in 10 (about 55 to 60g per portion, 1/4 cup). Flatten into a semi-circle shape slightly smaller than the pita bread half.
- Stuff – Gently open a pita then place the meat inside. Close, then press to spread to the edge and make it fairly evenly flat. (Is your pita tearing? See Note 5 for tip!)
COOKING ARAYES:
- Preheat oven to 50C/120F. Place a rack on a tray. (To keep cooked Arayes warm.)
- Cook – Heat a large frying pan over medium high heat. Spray both sides of the pita with olive oil then place 2 or 3 pieces in the pan (whatever you can fit). Cook for about 2 minutes on each side, pressing down lightly with a spatula, until golden and crispy. The meat is spread so thin it cooks really quickly! {Sandwich press – Note 7}
- Keep warm – Transfer cooked Arayes onto the rack and put in the oven to keep warm. Cook remaining pita.
- Serve – Cut in half if desired (sometimes I do, sometimes I don't!). Pile Arayes onto a serving platter. Serve with Whipped Tahini sauce. Enjoy!
WHIPPED TAHINI SAUCE:
- Place ingredients in a heatproof bowl and whisk to combine. Microwave for 15 seconds on high. Whisk again – it should resemble soft whipped cream. Use slightly warm or at room temperature.
Notes
This recipe is sponsored by Mediterranean Supermarket