This Middle Eastern inspired dish makes a terrific quickly prepared delicious dinner with perfect leftovers for school-lunches the next day.
Ingredients
(Serves 4)
Cumin-spiced Beef Mince
2 tbsp olive oil
500 g minced lamb or beef
1 tsp salt
1 onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic, finely chopped or crushed
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground cumin
3 tbsp pine nuts, lightly toasted
Hummus
1 x 400g tin chickpeas, drained & rinsed or 220 g cooked chickpeas
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp tahini
1 cloves garlic, finely chopped or crushed
½ tsp salt
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup hot water
6 wholemeal pita bread
nigella seeds, to garnish (optional)
smoked or sweet paprika, to garnish
½ cup Italian parsley leaves, to garnish
Method
- To prepare the Cumin-spiced Beef Mince, heat the 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan until very hot.
- Add the mince with the salt and cook on high. Stir and press on the meat with the back of a spoon to break up the meat into a gravelly texture; cooking until the liquid has evaporated and the meat has browned a little.
- Remove from the pan and reserve in a bowl to the side.
- In the same pan fry the onions, garlic, ground cinnamon and cumin until softened.
- Return the browned mince to the pan together with 2 tablespoon of the toasted pine nuts and stir through the onion mixture; gently frying for another couple of minutes until well combined. Stir through ¾ of the pine nuts and reserve to the side.
- To prepare the Hummus, place the chickpeas, lemon juice, tahini, garlic, salt, extra virgin olive oil and hot water in a blender or small food processor and process until a smooth puree. Add a little extra water if required to make a thick puree and adjust the seasoning to taste.
- To finish place the pita on an open grill or in a sandwich press to gently toast.
- Spread a thick layer of hummus over the pita and sprinkle over a little nigella seed.
- Top with the mince and sprinkle over a little smoked paprika.
- Garnish with the remaining pine nuts and Italian parsley leaves and serve.
Serving Notes
Nigella seeds are the little black seeds you see on Turkish bread. They had a toasty flavor to the dish but aren’t essential.