Arayes (crispy meat-stuffed pitas)
Pitas stuffed with a thin layer of spiced beef and crisped in a skillet until the bread shatters and the meat is juicy, with a lemony tahini sauce.
- 45 min total
- 35 min hands-on
- A little more hands-on
- Serves 4
- About $3.01 a serving
- 590 calories
- Good the next day
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 lb 85/15 ground beef
- ½ yellow onion, grated
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ⅓ cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 4 pita bread
- ¼ cup tahini
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 1 cucumber, sliced
From your pantry
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp paprika
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1¼ tsp salt, divided
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Each serving has about 590 calories, 30 g protein, 44 g carbs and 33 g fat, and costs about $3.01 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No 85/15 ground beef? 90/10 ground beef works.
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No fresh parsley? Cilantro works.
- No pita bread? Flour tortillas work.
- No lemons? Limes work.
- No cucumbers? English cucumbers or mini cucumbers work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the onion on the large holes of a box grater and squeeze out its juice. Mix it with the beef, garlic, parsley, cumin, paprika, cinnamon, 1 teaspoon salt and the pepper, using your hands.
Grate. Grating means rubbing food across the holes of a grater to make fine shreds or flakes. It spreads cheese, garlic or ginger evenly through a dish so it melts right in.
How you’ll know: Even shreds fall off the back of the grater, and you stop while the piece is still big enough to hold.
Food safety: Wash your hands, the board and the knife with hot soapy water after touching raw meat, and don’t rinse raw chicken in the sink.
Cut the pitas in half and gently open each pocket.
Press an eighth of the meat into each pocket in a thin, even layer that reaches all the way to the edges.
Dolly’s tip: Thin is the key. A thin layer cooks through in the time it takes the bread to crisp.Brush the outsides of the pitas all over with the oil.
Heat a large over medium. Cook 4 halves at a time, 5 to 6 minutes a side, pressing with a spatula, until the bread is deep and and the meat reads 160°F.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Crispy. Crispy means the outside is dry, firm and crunchy. It comes from high heat, a little oil and room in the pan, because crowded food steams and goes soft.
How you’ll know: It sounds crunchy when you tap or bite it, and it doesn’t flop when you lift it.
Medium heatTimer: 11 min
Dolly’s tip: Stand them up on their cut edge for the last minute to brown the meat you can see.Food safety: Ground beef, pork and lamb are done at 160°F. When it’s cooked through there’s no pink left anywhere in the pan.
Repeat with the rest, and while they cook, the tahini, lemon juice, the rest of the salt and 3 to 4 tablespoons of water until it pours like cream.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
Medium heat
Serve the arayes hot with the tahini sauce for dipping and the cucumber slices on the side.
Dolly’s tip: For lunch, pack them with the sauce in a small jar. Warm them in a dry skillet or air fryer for a few minutes to crisp them back up.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
