Beef Hawawshi Sandwiches

This recipe was originally published in the award-winning cookbook Eat, Habibi, Eat! Fresh Recipes for Modern Egyptian Cooking by Shahir Massoud (Appetite by Random House, 2021). You can purchase Eat, Habibi, Eat! here

Ingredients:

• ½ green pepper
• ½ white onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• ½ bunch parsley
• ¼ bunch cilantro
• ¼ bunch mint leaves
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 Tbsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ¼ cup harissa
• 3 loaves Egyptian whole wheat baladi bread
• 1 cup Tahini Sauce (recipe follows)
• Hot sauce, for seasoning

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Finely dice the green pepper, onion, garlic, parsley, cilantro, and mint. Place in a large mixing bowl along with the beef, paprika, coriander, salt, cinnamon, and harissa. Mix well.
3. Cut the baladi bread in quarters, then fill with the meat mixture. Place on the baking sheet and cook for 15 minutes, until the meat is cooked through and the bread is crispy. Serve with a side of tahini and a dash of hot sauce.

Tahini Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 cup tahini
• ½ cup lemon juice
• ½ tsp salt

Method:

1. Whisk all of the ingredients together in a bowl, along with up to 1 cup of water to emulsify (depending on how thick your tahini is). Transfer to a squeeze bottle or resealable plastic container and refrigerate up to 1 week.