Lebanese-Style Spiced Beef With Rice, Lemon & Pine Nuts
This hearty comfort food dish is inspired by the traditional Lebanese beef and rice dish, hashweh, as well as riz bi lahme. It’s based on spiced ground beef, with rice, toasted pine nuts, and fresh Italian parsley, for a rich blend of flavors. It’s the perfect way to use up any leftover rice.
Ingredients
- 5 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 pound ground sirloin
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 red onion sliced thinly
- 4 cups cooked rice jasmine or basmati
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 3 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
- 1 cup Italian parsley roughly chopped
- 2 Limoneira® lemons cut into wedges
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
Instructions
Pine Nuts
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Place the raw pine nuts on a cookie sheet in a single layer.
- Toast in the oven for about 5 to 7 minutes. They should be light brown—not too dark.
- Remove from the oven and set aside for now.
Beef & Rice
- Add 3 tablespoons of the oil to a large skillet at a medium-high setting. Add the ground beef, and season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes.
- Add the cumin and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon. Break apart the beef as you cook it for another 10 minutes or so. Press it along the bottom of the pan to cook until it begins to get crispy.
- Once it’s crispy, remove from the pan for now.
- Drain of excess beef fat, and add 1 tablespoon of the oil, along with the onions. Season with a pinch of salt, and the paprika, and saute for about 10 minutes, until soft and golden brown.
- Add the beef back into the skillet, along with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and pomegranate molasses. Stir through the mixture to blend, and cook for a few minutes, until the molasses begins to caramelize.
- Remove the meat mixture from the skillet for now, but don’t fuss over getting every last bit. Leave some, along with any scrapings, in the bottom.
- Add the rice to the pan, along with the last teaspoon of oil. Cook the rice, pressing it along the bottom, until it begins to crisp as well, or about 10 to 12 minutes.
- Once the bottom has begun to crisp, add the beef mixture back into the skillet, and mix it through to heat thoroughly.
- Add the parsley about one or two minutes before serving, stirring it through the mixture.
- Just before you serve, squeeze the juice of one of the lemons over the whole mixture.
- Top with the toasted pine nuts, and drizzle with the last tablespoon of pomegranate molasses.
- Serve with lemon wedges.
Notes
Note: Pine nuts are the traditional ingredient, but chopped, toasted almonds will also work in a pinch.
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