Lebanese Arayes Recipe (Meat Stuffed Pita)
Arayes are a Lebanese dish featuring pita bread stuffed with seasoned meat, typically lamb or beef, mixed with herbs and spices. The pita is sliced, filled with the meat mixture, and then grilled, resulting in a toasty crust and perfectly cooked filling.
Ingredients
- Lean ground beef - 1 lb
- Garlic cloves - 5
- Onion – 1/2
- Parsley, packed – ½ cup
- Black pepper – ½ tsp
- Salt – 1 tsp
- Seven spice or substitute with allspice – 1 tsp
- Pomegranate molasses – 1 tbsp
- Olive oil for the meat – 2 tbsp
- Olive oil for the pitas – 2-3 tbsp
- Round pitas - 4
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 F
- Finely chop the onions, garlic and parsley or put them in a food processor and process until fine
- Mix the ground beef with the onion, garlic and parsley mixture, add all the spices and the olive oil.
- Mix well using your hands, ensuring all the spices are well incorporated. If possible, allow the meat to marinate in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.
- Cut pitas in half and open them to form pockets.
- Stuff them with the meat mixture, ensuring the pita is full but not overfilled.
- Press the pitas down to flatten and ensure the filling comes all the way to the edge.
- Brush the outside of the pitas with olive oil on all sides.
- Brush a cast iron grill with oil, then sear the pitas for 1 minute on each side, on medium high heat. Flip onto the exposed meat side and sear as well.
- Place on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for approximately 20 minutes, turning them halfway through. If you have an oven rack, place them on the rack, on top of the oven sheet. This allows them to get crispier and avoids sogginess.
Nutrition
Calories: 621kcalCarbohydrates: 49gProtein: 48gFat: 25gSaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 127mgSodium: 1109mgFiber: 2gSugar: 5g
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!