Arayes (Pan Fried Beef Filled Pita)

The other day, I was wondering what to make with a pound and a quarter of ground beef I had. Bruce was talking hamburgers, but I wasn’t that interested in burgers. I wanted to make something similar to hamburgers for Bruce and yet different enough for me. I also had homemade pita bread in the freezer that needed to be used up.

I recalled this recipe, Pan-Fried Beef-Filled Pita from “Milk Street: Tuesday Night Mediterranean” by Christopher Kimball. After I confirmed I had the ingredients or replacement ingredients, I thought it would do the trick.

I added feta cheese and told Bruce these was Greek burgers. He loved them. However, in rereading the caption of the recipe, I realized these weren’t Greek, but Lavant.

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients

Yogurt Sauce

• 1 cup plain whole-milk Greek yogurt
• 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice (1 lemon, juiced)

Meat Filling

• 1 small sweet onion, grated on the large holes of a box grater
• 6 ripe cherry tomatoes, halved, grated on large holes of box grater, skins discarded (1 ripe but firm medium tomato, halved, pulp grated on the large holes of a box grater, skin discarded)
• salt and black pepper
• 1 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1 1/4 pound 90 percent lean ground beef
• 1/3 cup finely chopped cilantro (recipe called for parsley, but I used cilantro instead)
• 1½ teaspoons Aleppo pepper or 1 teaspoon sweet paprika plus ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 pita round, torn into 1/4 to 1/2 inch chunks

Pitas for Stuffing

• Three 7-inch pita rounds plus the 1/2 round left from the meat stuffing that are about ½ inch thick and fresh and supple. I used 5 smaller homemade pitas plus the 1/2 round left from the meat stuffing

Cooking

• 4 to 6 teaspoons of olive oil or vegetable oil

Serving

• Crumbled feta cheese

Tools:

Fine mesh strainer, 2 medium bowls, small bowl, knife, cutting board, box grater, 12 inch cast iron skillet or nonstick frying pan, spoons for stirring, measuring cup, wide spatula, paper towels, plate

Instructions

Yogurt Sauce

1. In the small bowl, add all the ingredients for the yogurt sauce. Stir them together until well mixed. Cover and set aside.

Meat Filling

1. Place strainer over medium size bowl and combine the grated onion, tomatoes and 1/4 teaspoon salt into the fine mesh strainer. Allow the onion and tomatoes mixture to sit for 10 minutes. The onion and tomatoes will release liquid into the medium bowl.
2. Pour the liquid from the onion and tomatoes into the measuring cup. Pour 1/4 cup of the liquid into the second medium bowl.
3. Combine the torn pieces of the half pita with the 1/4 cup of onion tomato liquid, then knead by hand until smooth and paste-like.
4. Add the beef, cilantro or parsley, Aleppo pepper, allspice, cumin, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper and the drained onion-tomato mixture to the paste-like pita. Mix well with your hands. (You can discard the onion and tomatoes liquid or save it for soup.)

Assemble the Arayes

1. Cut the pitas in half so you have a pocket.
2. Divide the meat stuffing into 7 portions (each about ⅓ cup) and stuff a portion into each pita half, flattening it into an evenly thick layer. (If using smaller pitas, divided into 11 portions.)

Cooking the Arayes

1. In the skillet or frying pan, heat 2 teaspoons of oil on medium heat until the oil shimmers.
2. Add three of the filled pita halves to the skillet or pan. Cook until the bottom of the pita is well browned (3 to 4 minutes), then using a wide spatula flip the pita halves over and cook until the second side is well browned (3 to 4 minutes). The center of the filling should be at least 160 degrees F.
3. Transfer to the paper towel lined plate.
4. Wipe out the skillet or frying pan and repeat steps 1 to 3 until all the pita halves are cooked.

Serve

1. Serve with the yogurt sauce and the crumbled feta cheese.
2. We pried open the pitas and put the feta cheese inside and drizzled the yogurt sauce inside as well.

Notes:

The pita was crispy and delicious and the meat stuffing was moist and flavorful.

“Don’t cook the stuffed pita halves over too high a heat or the bread will scorch before the filling is cooked through.”

These reheated well from the fridge. Bruce reheated them by placing a small amount of oil in a skillet over medium heat and letting the oil come to a shimmer. He placed the pitas in the skillet and flipped them after a minute or so. He let them warm up on the second side for the same amount of time. This crisped up the pitas again and warmed the meat through.