Arayes are a popular Lebanese street food and they will be your new weeknight favourite. You start by stuffing a pita with spiced ground beef. The pita is then grilled until crispy as the meat tenderly cooks inside. The result is a sandwich that’s crispy on the outside and incredibly juicy in the middle. You can use beef or lamb, depending on your preference. We like to use fluffier, small pitas but any size will do. Serve arayes alongside a simple tahini drizzle to compliment all of the flavours.
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ingredients
Arayes
Tahini Drizzle
directions
Preheat oven to 425°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Chop the onion and parsley roughly and place in the food processor. Pulse until very finely chopped.
Place the ground beef in a large bowl, add the pine nuts, cinnamon, cumin, salt, pepper and chopped parsley and onion. Mix until well combined.
Slice the pitas in half. Scoop about a heaping ¼ cup of the beef mixture into the open pita.
Repeat until all of the meat is inside the pitas.
Heat a grill pan over medium-high and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Once hot, place the pitas, meat side down, onto the grill pan and cook for 5 minutes. Flip to the side, continue to cook the pita for 5 minutes, then flip again so the other side of the pita cooks for an additional 5 minutes until it’s crispy and golden. Work in batches, if you need to.
Place the pitas on the prepared baking sheet and put them in the 425°F oven to cook for 7-10 minutes to ensure the beef is fully cooked.
As the arayes are cooking, make the tahini sauce by whisking all ingredients together in a bowl.
Remove the arayes from the oven and enjoy with the tahini sauce.