This Pita Pocket Could Be Your Child’s Favorite Burger
Let’s just call this what it is: kinda amazing. In Egypt, it is known as hawawshi; in Lebanon, it’s known as arayes–but it might make the most sense to you when called by its colloquial moniker, the Arabic hamburger. From the recipe photo, it certainly looks like a cross between a quesadilla and a hamburger, but it’s what you don’t see that makes the difference: all those middle eastern warming spices–cardamom, cinnamon, coriander–and a lot more vegetables than you might have an imagined hiding within meat and bread. Both soft and crunchy, rich and homey, bold and simple–it’s a bit of everything in one hand-holdable package, and a great addition to your lunch repertoire and/or your burger recipes.
- 1/2 small Onion
- 1/4 Red Pepper (or 3 mini peppers)
- 1/2 lb Ground Beef (or lamb)
- 1/2 tbsp Tomato Paste
- Garlic Powder
- Middle Eastern or shawarma spice mix (if you don’t have a premade mix, add 1 tsp each of cumin, cardamom, and/coriander; can also use a zaatar seasoning, too)
- Dried Parsley and/or Cilantro
- 2 Pitas
- Remove shell and ends from onion and seeds and pith from pepper; cut each into 3-4 pieces.
- Blend onion and pepper pieces until finely minced. Drain any excess liquid from the blender jar.
- Add a splash of olive oil, followed by the ground meat, tomato paste and a couple of shakes each of garlic powder, parsley or cilantro, and your middle eastern spice mix. Blend again until a smooth paste forms, adding an additional glug of olive oil as needed to break apart meat and vegetable mix.
- Cut your pita in half. (If the inside of each half doesn’t open readily, microwave for 10 seconds and then poke a hole in it to open up).
- Take a clump of the meat mixture and press it down into a half-moon shape roughly the same size as the pita halves.
- Stick the meat mixture inside the pita and close the pita up; place your fingers on top of the pita and push the meat mixture inside towards the edges of the pita to distribute.
- Heat a large pan to Medium. Once hot, coat the outside of the pita in cooking spray and place in the pan; repeat for remaining pieces.
- Cook until the bottom side of the pita is brown, roughly 2 minutes; flip, then cook until meat inside the pita is fully cooked, roughly two minutes more.
While it’s more traditional/authentic to eat this dish holding a half or quarter of a pita, it’s easier–and possibly more familiar–for young children to eat this cut into smaller triangles, much like you might do for a quesadilla. Squeeze a bit of lemon over the top and eat quickly–the meat juice will soak the pita and make it go soft soon after it leaves the stove.
You can ditch the red pepper and onion and just stick spiced burger meat inside the pita–you’ll miss an easy opportunity to add some veggies, but you’ll save a few minutes and the pita will stay crisper longer. A crunchier version of this can be made by oven cooking: 375 degrees for about 12-15 minutes–with a flip midway–will ensure a crunchy exterior (albeit with less juicy meat). You can also add some cheese to the mix, which won’t affect the process or cooking time.
Brad (the Dad) is the founder and Chief Recipe Officer of New Dad's Kitchen. His own cooking/feeding journey started humbly during his son's infancy, preparing and managing his son's bottle intake in order to support his wife; it has since blossomed into a full-on passion to feed his child and family delicious and healthy meals that can satisfy both a toddler and his very tired parents.
