Areyas

Cook Time 25 minutes

Servings 4-6

Ingredients

500g ground beef 

150g ground pork (the fattier the better)

1 medium onion, quartered

1 cup 50g fresh parsley, finely chopped, plus extra for garnish

1 tbsp salt

1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper

60g toasted pine nuts

2 tsp za'atar

1 tsp sumac (optional), plus extra for garnish

6 small 12.5 cm pitas, halved

80ml extra virgin olive oil 

Toum

1 cup garlic cloves (4½ ounces; 130g)

2 tsp salt

¼ cup (60g) fresh lemon juice from about 2 lemons, divided, plus extra for garnish

1 tbsp (60g) ice water, divided

3 cups (600g) neutral oil, such as grapeseed or safflower oil

Method

Put the ground beef and pork in a large bowl and knead until nicely combined.

Then put the onions in a food processor and pulse to create a coarse paste. Wrap the mixture in a clean kitchen towel and twist the towel like a candy wrapper, and squeeze out as much liquid as you can.

Add the onion, parsley and pine nuts to the ground meat. Add the salt, pepper, sumac and za'atar and knead again to combine thoroughly.

Stuff each pita half with the meat mixture. Make sure it comes all the way to the cut edge of the pita so that the meat can be seared.

Generously brush both sides of each pita with the oil. To grill the pita, on high heat place the stuffed pita halves on the grill and sear until they turn golden brown and have nice grill marks, about 1-2 minutes on each side.

Turn the heat down, lay them flat again, and continue cooking another 2 to 3 minutes per side depending on your grill heat.

By this time, the pitas will have absorbed the fat from the filling and will be juicy inside and crunchy and deep golden brown on the outside, and the meat filling will be perfectly cooked. Total grilling time will be about 12 minutes.

For the Toum, cut the garlic cloves in half and remove the germ, this reduces the intensity of the garlic.

In a food processor add the salt and the garlic and pulse, scrape down sides if needed and add 1 tbsp lemon juice and pulse until a paste forms.

Add another tbsp of lemon juice and process until smooth.

With the food processor running slowly, stream in the oil to emulsify about halfway through add some iced water and lemon juice to bring down the temp. Add in all the oil, your toum should end up white and fluffy.

Serve areyas with loads of chopped parsley, sumac and lemon and your toum.