Arayes : Meat-Stuffed Pitas
Arayes: These middle eastern meat stuffed pitas are the perfect balance in every bite. Crispy outside of the pita, along with the juicy and herbed meat on the inside. Dip them in Toum or some Tzatziki for the ultimate bite. (My favorite is Toum)
What are Arayes and Where Do They Come From?
Arayes is a very popular Lebanese dish, featuring minced meat (usually either beef or lamb) stuffed inside of a pita, and lastly, grilled. The meat on the inside is very similar to Kofta, using alot of the same seasonings and herbs.
What All Goes Inside ?
Traditionally, Arayes are stuffed with minced beef or lamb. The meat used inside of Arayes must be on the leaner side, and is usually red meat. The logic behind using leaner meat is so the pita doesn’t get soggy from all of the juices emitted by the grilling process. (Trust me, I learned this the hard way!)
The meat is then seasoned with herbs and spices such as, garlic, parsley, garam masala, coriander, etc. creating that traditional middle eastern flavor profile.
How to Cook Arayes
The preferred method of cooking Arayes is grilling. Even if you don’t own a grill, or just want a different way of cooking this dish, you can surely pan sear or even bake arayes.
I recommend standing them upright with a baking rack if you’re baking them. This will avoid any oil from the meat becoming soaked into the pita, creating a soggy pita. As you can tell from the previous paragraphs, we dont want soggy pita!
For pan searing, I recommend using a cast iron to get a crispy crust. Just be careful not to crank your heat up too high. Medium heat should be well enough, as cast iron pans tend to hold heat at a high level. About 2 minutes on each side should give you crispy crusts, and a medium to medium well center. If you prefer your meat well done, you can pop them in the oven after searing them to achieve that final doneness.
Arayes: Meat Stuffed Pitas
Ingredients
- 1 lb Lean ground beef or lamb
- 4 pitas cut in half
Meat Mix
- 5 garlic cloves
- 1 handful parsley
- 1/2 white onion
- ½ tbsp garam masala
- ½ tbsp coriander
- 1½ tbsp salt and pepper
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
Instructions
- To a food processor, add in garlic, parsley, and onion. Pulse until it turns into almost a paste. Alternatively, you can chop these ingredients to that point by hand,5 garlic cloves, 1 handful parsley, 1/2 white onion
- To a separate bowl, add in meat, and herb paste that was just made. Add in all seasonings and tomato paste and mix the meat until its well combined.1 lb Lean ground beef or lamb, ½ tbsp garam masala, ½ tbsp coriander, 1½ tbsp salt and pepper, 1 tbsp tomato paste, 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- To the pitas cut in half, stuff them with the meat mixture, careful not to overstuff and rip the pitas. Smooth the edges so that no meat is poking out beyond where the pita stops. Cut pitas in half so that they will be cut into fours.4 pitas
- To a grill, cook over indirect heat for a few minutes on each side, until desired meat doneness is achieved. Alternatively, to a cast iron on medium heat, sear arayes in 1 tsp of olive oil on both sides until your desired doneness is achieved.If you prefer oven baked, stand them up on a baking rack with a baking sheet beneath and bake for about 15 minutes, or until desired doneness is achieved.
- Serve immediately.