Description
I like to think of these gorgeously spicy, juicy stuffed flatbreads – or arayes – as Middle Eastern style quesadillas.
You’ve got a beautifully spiced kofta mixture stuffed into fluffy flatbreads and pan-fried until super crispy on the outside, and lovely and juicy in the middle. They’re a wonderful easy meal or fabulous as a party bite.
Ingredients
For the arayes -
- 1lb/500g ground beef (or lamb)
- 1 small white onion, grated
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tablespoon harissa paste
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Handful of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped (plus extra to serve)
- 50g/2oz feta (or marinated feta)
- Olive oil
- Pita or flatbreads (depending on the size of your flatbreads, you'll be able to stuff at least 6 - 8 with this mixture)
For the tahini yogurt dipping sauce -
- 1/2 cup plain, unsweetened or Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons tahini
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sumac
Instructions
- Mix the filling. Add the ground lamb, grated onion (dice the onion if you prefer but grating it is not only quicker, but it keeps the filling super moist), crushed garlic, ground cumin, coriander, cinnamon, chopped parsley, crumbled feta and salt to a mixing bowl. Mix very well to combine and to ensure the seasoning is well-distributed.
- Prepare the flatbreads. You can either slice your flatbreads in half, or into quarters before stuffing them. You can cook them as halves, and then slice them into quarters to serve, or cook them as quarters. It’s totally up to you. Quarters will cook slightly faster. Carefully slice the flatbreads open so they become pockets. Don’t stress too much if it’s a bit messy, it doesn’t hugely matter as long as you don’t have big holes in your bread.
- Stuff the flatbreads. Stuff the filling into the flatbread pockets, so they’re about half an inch thick. Try to press the filling evenly into the bread (this will help it cook more uniformly).
- Make the tahini yogurt sauce. Mix the yogurt, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, salt and black pepper in a bowl until you have a creamy sauce. Taste, season with a little more salt and lemon juice if you like.
- Cook the flatbreads. Set a large pan over medium-high heat and add a little drizzle of oil. Add the stuffed flatbreads and cook for roughly 4 minutes on each side, then stand them upright to crisp up the open section. Remove from the pan and repeat with the remaining stuffed flatbreads. PRO TIP: This is a BRILLIANT one to prepare in advance and then cook on an outdoor grill or barbecue.
- Garnish and serve. If you’ve cooked the flatbreads in halves, you can choose to slice them into quarters to serve. Arrange them on a platter, then scatter over the set-aside flat leaf parsley and serve with the tahini dipping sauce on the side.
Notes
PREP AHEAD: You can make the meat mixture a couple of days ahead of time, and then just stuff the flatbreads when you’re ready to cook. You can also stuff the flatbreads 24 hours in advance and keep them, covered, in the fridge until you’re ready to cook.
STORAGE INSTRUCTIONS: Any leftovers will be fine for 3 – 4 days in the fridge. You can enjoy them cold, or pop them in the microwave or air fryer to heat up.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS: While I love this with the tahini yogurt dipping sauce, you can really play around. Garlic aioli, spicy aioli, whipped spicy feta or whipped cottage cheese is also great.
OTHER COOKING METHODS: These are wonderful cooked on an outdoor grill or barbecue, or you can pop them into an air fryer for about 8 minutes at 380F/190C. You can even use a sandwich press to make them!
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 10
- Category: fakeaways
- Method: stove top
- Cuisine: middle eastern
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 flatbreads
- Calories: 570
- Sugar: 6.2g
- Sodium: 1661.4mg
- Fat: 17.6g
- Saturated Fat: 5.8g
- Unsaturated Fat: 10.5g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 62.7g
- Fiber: 7.5g
- Protein: 44.1g
- Cholesterol: 90.8mg