Arayes (stuffed pita)

Arayes are pita pockets traditionally stuffed with beef or lamb. I adapted this recipe from Little Spice Jar and used Impossible Lite Ground Beef - it was great!

Ingredients

•  1 lb plant-based ground beef (“lite” works well)

•  ½ medium onion, cut into a few pieces

•  ½ cup parsley, packed

•  5 cloves garlic

•  2 teaspoons tomato paste

•  1 teaspoon of kosher salt

•  1 teaspoon EACH: ground allspice AND Baharat seasoning (if you don’t have baharat seasoning you can use a ¼ teaspoon of each of these: ground coriander, ground black pepper, ground cloves, and ground nutmeg instead. Plus the teaspoon of ground allspice.)

•  ½ teaspoon each: hot paprika or cayenne pepper (optional), ground cumin, AND cinnamon

•  1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses (optional)

•  4-5 flat pita pockets

•  1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more

•  Garlic sauce or tahini sauce

Instructions

1. COMBINE: In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the onions, garlic, and parsley until it's minced. Add this to a bowl along with the plant-based ground beef, kosher salt, tomato paste, all of the seasonings, and the molasses. Use your hands or a wooden spoon to mix thoroughly.

2. FILL: Cut the pitas into 4 equal pieces. Place roughly 2 tablespoons of the mixture inside each pita and gently press the mixture down with a spoon. Repeat with the remaining mixture and pitas.

3. PAN FRY, BAKE, AIR FRY: Heat a large cast-iron grill pan (or other grill pan) over medium-high heat. Brush both sides of the arayes with olive oil. When the grill is warm, place four arayes on the grill and cook for roughly 3-5 minutes per side or until golden and the beef is cooked to your liking. You can also bake these on a wire rack placed on top of a baking sheet in at 425ºF oven for 10-14 minutes (flipping halfway) and cooking them to your liking. The time it takes will depend on the thickness of the pita you’re using, Lebanese pitas require less time; thicker Greek pitas require longer. Air fry at 375ºF for 7-12 minutes (flipping halfway.) Serve with toum (garlic sauce) or tahini sauce. Enjoy!

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