Pomegranate beef pitas
Ten minutes of assembly, then the oven. The syrup at the end is what makes it.
At a Glance
Story
Pomegranate molasses is a souring agent, not a sweetener, whatever the syrup in the name suggests. It is boiled-down juice, so it carries the tartness of a whole pomegranate in a spoonful, and it lands on a rich baked tray the way a squeeze of lemon does on fish. Leave it out and the dish is heavy in a way you will notice without being able to name.
Ingredients
- 10 oz ground beef
- 3 tbsp roasted red pepper pestojarred is fine
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 4 oz grape tomatoes
- 1 oz roasted red pepperssliced
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
- 2 pocketless pitas or flatbreads
- 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
- ¼ cup labneh
- 1 ½ oz fetacrumbled
- dill frondstorn, to finish
- olive oilsalt, pepper
Method
The tray does everything. Get it in the oven and the only job left is warming bread.
- Oven to 450°F. In a small roasting tray, stir the red pepper pesto, tomato paste, sliced peppers, tomatoes and as much of the pepper flakes as you want. Season and combine properly.
- Tear the beef into bite-size pieces and lay them over the top in one layer. Season. Bake uncovered 12 to 14 minutes, until cooked through.
- Out of the oven, stir it together, pressing the tomatoes with the back of a spoon until they burst.
- Meanwhile, stack the pitas, wrap the stack in foil and put it straight on an oven rack for 5 to 7 minutes.
- Serve the tray with the warm pitas, the labneh, the feta, a lot of dill, and the pomegranate molasses zigzagged over everything at the last second.
Do the syrup at the table if you can. It dulls into the sauce within a minute or two of sitting.
More to cook
Chicken and gnocchi with a pecan gremolata
The gnocchi cook in the broth, and the pesto turns what is left into a sauce.
Chipotle-glazed chicken bites over poblano rice
Cornstarch, not flour, which is the only reason the crust survives the glaze.
Pork bánh mì rice bowls
All the bánh mì furniture, none of the bread, and a pickle that takes ten minutes.
Balsamic chicken and roast roots in spicy honey butter
The butter goes on after roasting, never before, and it matters more than it sounds.
Falafel and chicken in one pita
Feta goes into the falafel mix, not on top, and it changes the whole thing.
Gochujang-glazed meatloaf with delicata squash
Fifteen minutes of prep, and the squash needs no peeling whatsoever.
One-pot shrimp udon with lime
Nothing gets drained, so the starch off the noodles thickens the sauce for you.
Shawarma turkey meatballs over couscous
Foil over the pan for the first six minutes, which is the whole trick.
Shrimp and orange-chili noodles
Fifteen minutes. The noodles are heated in the bowl they get dressed in.
Chicken and chickpea pitas
Fifteen minutes, one pan, and a tahini sauce loosened with honey.
Chickpea and yellow curry shakshuka
One pan, one jar of curry paste, and eggs dropped in at the end.
Crispy chicken cutlets in a tomato cream
The sauce is made in the frying pan after the oil comes out, not before.
Falafel and farro, everything marinated
The falafel mix needs ten minutes alone before you touch it. Rush that and it crumbles.
Harissa-honey chicken and pearl couscous
The dates go into warm water first, which is the difference between chewy and molten.
Kimchi butter shrimp
Butter and kimchi make a pan sauce in about ninety seconds. Have the rice ready.