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Ground Beef and Spices are blended together to form a paste, baked on pita bread and topped with a garden salad to serve.
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Lebanese Sfeeha on Pita

A fantastic Lebanonese dish made even easier using pita bread for the delicious ground beef mixture.
Course Beef
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 7 minutes
Additional Time 30 minutes
Total Time 52 minutes
Servings 8 Servings
Calories 292kcal
Author Barb

Ingredients

  • 1 pound ground beef 98% fat free, if possible
  • 4 ounces chopped onion
  • ½ cup Italian parsley minced
  • 3 tablespoons tahini
  • 1 teaspoon garlic paste 3 cloves of garlic mashed with a dash of salt
  • 1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 3 tablespoons labneh If not available, substitute Greek yogurt

Spices

  • 1 ½ teaspoons salt or to taste
  • 1 teaspoon seven-spice
  • 1 teaspoon sumac
  • 1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper or 1/2 teaspoon to taste of dried chili flakes

Dressing

  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice freshly squeezed
  • 1 teaspoon sumac
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 dash allspice

For the Salad

  • 2 cups cherry tomatoes halved
  • 2 cups Italian parsley chopped
  • 1 cup onion or green onion chopped
  • 1 cup pomegranate seeds optional; I didn't use them

To Finish

  • 8 slices pita bread

Instructions

  • Chop the onion fine and combine with some salt; place it on a sieve lined with a paper towel and let the onion drain its juice for 30 minutes or so.
  • Place the meat, spices, drained onion, chopped parsley, tahini, pomegranate molasses, labneh and garlic paste in the bowl of a food processor. Process for 2 minutes or until the mixture turns pasty. Transfer to a bowl.
  • Preheat the oven to 375F and line a few baking sheets with foil. Place a pita on the foil and slather about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of the meat mixture (depending on the size of the pita) on the pita, using a spatula to spread it as evenly as possible. Continue with the rest of the pitas.
  • Bake for 7 minutes, checking halfway through. When the meat looks cooked, remove from the oven.

Mix the Salad

  • Combine the dressing ingredients and whisk together. Combine the chopped salad ingredients with the dressing and gently stir.

Finish the Sfeeha

  • Serve the pita and ground beef mixture warm from the oven topped with the salad mixture.

Notes

7 spice mix with Garam Masala; combine all together and mix thoroughly.
    • 2 tablespoons black pepper
    • 2 tablespoons cinnamon
    • 2 tablespoons paprika
    • 1 tablespoon turmeric
    • 1 tablespoon coriander
    • 1 tablespoon cumin
    • 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
    • 5 tablespoons garam masala (optional though some consider it a nice backdrop to the other seven spices. I love it and had some on hand so did include it in my spice mix).

Nutrition

Serving: 1Serving | Calories: 292kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 41mg | Sodium: 830mg | Potassium: 504mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 1977IU | Vitamin C: 40mg | Calcium: 67mg | Iron: 3mg