Growing up, `Araayis were weeknight staples in our household—a mixture of ground beef and lamb is seasoned with spices, fresh herbs, and vegetables and stuffed into pita pockets before hitting the oven or the grill. Typically served with full-fat plain yogurt, it’s a flavorful and wholesome meal.
‘Araayis (Meat Stuffed Pita)
Ingredients
- 10 pita pockets (sliced in halves)
- 1 lb ground beef
- ½ lb ground lamb
- 3 tomatoes (seeded and diced)
- 1 white or yellow onion (diced)
- 2 jalapeño peppers (diced)
- 3 large garlic cloves (minced)
- ½ cup parsley (finely chopped)
- 1 ½ tbs tahini
- 1 ½ tbs pomegranate molasses
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp olive (and a few tbs more for brushing)
- 1 ¼ tsp kosher salt
- ¾ tsp black pepper
- ¾ tsp all spice
- ½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp onion powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
- With the exception of the pita bread, combine all of the ingredients listed above
- Line a sheet pan with parchment paper
- Brush both sides of pita bread with olive oil
- Stuff the pita pockets with meat mixture
- Bake for 10-minutes, flip the pita pockets, and bake for another 10 minutes
- Serve with plain full-fat yogurt
Notes
- I recommend using a food processor to dice your vegetables. If take this route, you can combine the tahini, pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, olive oil, and spices to your vegetable and herb mixture before combining with the meat mixture. The flavor seems to come out better this way.
- Chop the onions and the seeded tomatoes separately in the food processor—the jalapeños, garlic, and parsley can be chopped together
- Highly recommend using thicker pockets, if available
