Hawawshi
Spiced Minced Beef Baked in Pitta
Hawawshi is minced beef mixed with onion, peppers, parsley and warm spices, stuffed into bread and baked until the bread is crisp and the filling cooked through.
A travel guide names hawawshi as a key Egyptian dish.
The recipe mixes 900 g of lean beef with the vegetables, tomato paste and spices, fills 12 pitta halves and bakes them 20 to 25 minutes at 200°C.
Ingredients
For the filling
- 1 large onion, quartered
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 green pepper, cored and chunked
- 1 jalapeño, halved and seeded
- 15 g flat-leaf parsley, stems trimmed
- 900 g lean minced beef
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- Salt
- 1 tsp each ground coriander, allspice, paprika and black pepper
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 3/4 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
To bake
- 6 pitta loaves with pockets
- Extra virgin olive oil
Method
- Heat the oven Heat the oven to 200°C. Mix the spices in a small bowl.
- Chop the vegetables Pulse the onion, garlic, pepper, jalapeño and parsley in a food processor until finely chopped, then drain the liquid through a sieve.
- Mix the filling Combine the drained mixture with the beef, tomato paste, spices and salt and mix thoroughly.
- Stuff Cut the pittas in half to make 12 pockets. Oil a baking tray. Fill each pocket with about 80 g of the mixture and brush the tops with oil.
- Bake Bake for 15 minutes, flip carefully and bake for 5 to 10 minutes more until the meat is cooked through, with no pink, and the pitta is crisp. The filling must be piping hot.
Food safety
Minced meat must be cooked through, with no pink and piping hot. Wash hands, boards and utensils after handling raw mince. Cool leftovers quickly and reheat until piping hot.
Drain the chopped vegetables well or the pitta will go soft.