Crispy Lebanese Meat Stuffed Pita - Arayes

 Lebanese street food - pita bread stuffed with spiced kofta meat, pan fried until crispy! Think of these as Lebanese quesadillas or easy Gozleme. :) The unique method here is that it's cooked with raw meat inside, so the tasty meat juices soaks into and flavours the pita bread as it cooks. It's outrageously delicious. I bet you become as obsessed with these as I have!

Ingredients

5 pita bread , the thin pocket type, ~15cm/6" diameter (250g/8oz pack), cut in half (Note 1)

Olive oil spray (or brush with olive oil)

Spiced meat filling:

1/2 brown onion

500g/ 1 lb lamb or beef mince (ground meat) (Note 2)

2 garlic cloves , finely grated

1 tbsp finely chopped parsley , optional

3 tsp ground coriander

3 tsp ground cumin

1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika (sub plain paprika)

3/4 tsp ground allspice (sub mixed spice)

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (reduce/omit for less spicy - Note 4)

1 1/4 tsp cooking/kosher salt

Whipped tahini yogurt sauce:

1 cup plain yogurt

2 tbsp tahini (or Chinese sesame paste - Note 5)

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 garlic clove , finely grated

1/2 tsp cooking/kosher salt

Instructions

Spiced meat filling:

Grate the onion in a bowl using a standard box grater. We want the juices and all! (Note 4)

Meat filling - Add remaining meat filling ingredients. Mix well with your hands.

Divide stuffing in 10 (about 55 to 60g per portion, 1/4 cup). Flatten into a semi-circle shape slightly smaller than the pita bread half.

Stuff - Gently open a pita then place the meat inside. Close, then press to spread to the edge and make it fairly evenly flat. (Is your pita tearing? See Note 5 for tip!)

Cooking Arayes:

Preheat oven to 50C/120F. Place a rack on a tray. (To keep cooked Arayes warm.)

Cook - Heat a large frying pan over medium high heat. Spray both sides of the pita with olive oil then place 2 or 3 pieces in the pan (whatever you can fit). Cook for about 2 minutes on each side, pressing down lightly with a spatula, until golden and crispy. The meat is spread so thin it cooks really quickly! {Sandwich press - Note 7}

Keep warm - Transfer cooked Arayes onto the rack and put in the oven to keep warm. Cook remaining pita.

Serve - Cut in half if desired (sometimes I do, sometimes I don't!). Pile Arayes onto a serving platter. Serve with Whipped Tahini sauce. Enjoy!

Whipped tahini sauce:

Place ingredients in a heatproof bowl and whisk to combine. Microwave for 15 seconds on high. Whisk again - it should resemble soft whipped cream. Use slightly warm or at room temperature.