Burger of the Week: Shawarma Burger

Shawarma Burger

Today being Yom Yerushalayim I am reminded of how much I love shawarma.  While the local Chicago based Israeli restaurants scratch the itch for it, nothing beats the greasy storefront joints of Jerusalem.  Brooklyn comes close, but there’s just something about being in the Holyland and loading a pita with spit roasted mystery meat and all the toppings you can handle. Although I have asked many times, my wife has repeatedly told me I am not allowed to buy a vertical shawarma spit. So instead, I have decided for this  installment of burger of the week to try and capture some of those flavors with the shawarma burger. 

Just like the last BOTW, I know this recipe looks intimidating.  You can buy premade shawarma seasoning, tahini, and schug . I was planning on adding amba, a fermented mango sauce, to this recipe but I could not find it anywhere locally.

What is Shawarma and where did it come from?

Shawarma is a dish made of some sort of protein seasoned heavily, thinly sliced, and cooked on a vertical spit. It is then stuffed into a pita or rolled burrito style into flat bread known as a laffa. It is served along with a myriad of sauces and vegetables. For the protein lamb is king, but you will often see beef, chicken, or turkey being used.  As for sauces hummus, tahini, schug (see below), and amba are traditional. When it comes to vegetables some of my favorites are chips (AKA French fries), Israeli pickles, sauteed onions, and occasionally sauerkraut.  Sumac onions and Israeli salad are also very traditional additions, but I am not a huge fan of tomatoes and raw onion. 

Where does Shawarma come from?  The word shawarma comes from the term çevirme in Ottoman Turkish that means turn, referencing the vertical spit it rotates on. I came  across a Wikipedia page that states shawarma descends from the döner kebab. The  döner kebab was brought to Israel by the Ottomans in the 19th century.  There is a great YouTube series by @FrenchGuyCooking all about the döner kebab that I highly recommend.

Schug, what’s that?

Schug, also known as charif (חָרִיף) in Hebrew, which literally translates to spicy, is a paste made from hot peppers. It comes from the Middle East and North Africa. The recipe varies depending on the area.  They type I prefer seems to hail for Yemen and uses red peppers.  It tends to be a bit hotter than the green varieties that uses pepper that are not quite so high on the Scoville scale and incorporates more herbs to tame the heat. 

For years I was never able to get the texture right on my schug.  I would always just use fresh peppers in my recipe. My schug was always much wetter than what I bought in stores or was served in restaurants. For this recipe I added some dried red pepper flakes to the mix. After that the texture was exactly what I was looking for.

Please check out some of our burger-related content. Let us know in the comments what type of burger I should make next.

 

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Shawarma Burger
Shawarma Burger
Prep Time
1 hr
Cook Time
15 mins
 

There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I want to try it-Tony Stark

Course: Dinner, Lunch, Sandwich
Cuisine: American, Israeli, Mediterranean
Keyword: Burger, Hamburger, Israeli, shawarma
Servings: 4 Burgers
Author: Daniel Peikes
Ingredients
Red Schug
  • 1 Cup Fresh Spicy Red Pepper (Jalapeno for Mild, Cayenne for Medium, Habanero for Hot
  • 1 Large Red Bell Pepper
  • ¼ Cup Chopped Cilantro
  • 4 Cloves Garlic
  • ¼ Cup Dried Red Pepper Flakes
  • ¼ Cup Olive Oil
Schug BBQ Sauce
Sumac Onions
Za'atar Tahini Burger Sauce
Israelis Salad
Burger Components
  • 1 lb. Ground Beef Formed into 4 quarter pound patties
  • 4 tbsp Shawarma Spice
  • 2 Pitas Cut each one in half
  • 4 Israeli Pickles Sliced into thin rounds
  • 1/4 cup Sumac Pickled Onions
  • 1/4 cup Schug BBQ Sauce
  • 1/4 cup Tahini Burger Sauce
Instructions
Shawarma Seasoning
  1. Add the coriander, cumin, onion, garlic, sumac, cinnamon, ground black pepper, allspice into a mixing bowl and stir to combine.

Sumac Onions
  1. Slice the red onion in half and then into thin half moons. If you have a mandolin this is the time to use it but please be careful. Always use the hand guard.

  2. Add the onions, sumac, salt, and lemon juice to a mixing bowl. Stir to combine and let sit for half an hour for the flavors to meld. Transfer to an air tight container and store in the refrigerator for up to a month.

Schug
  1. Using a blender or a food processor, blend the hot peppers, bell pepper, garlic, and cilantro into a paste.

  2. Add the dried red pepper flake. The mixture should look a little dry.

  3. Add the olive oil a little bit at time until desired consistency is achieved.

  4. Transfer to an air tight container and store in the refrigerator for up to a month.

Schug BBQ Sauce
  1. Add the ketchup, schug. honey, and vinegar to a small saucepan. Stir to combine.

  2. Place on the stove over low heat. Cook until it just starts to simmer. Allow to cool, transfer to an air tight container and store in the refrigerator for up to a month.

Za'atar Tahini Sauce
  1. In a mixing bowl combine the tahini paste, water, lemon juice, dried parsley, granulated garlic, za'atar, and kosher salt. Stir until all ingredients incorporated and transfer to an air tight container. Store in the refrigerator for up to a month.

Israeli Salad
  1. In a large mixing bowl combine the diced tomato, diced seedless cucumber, diced red pepper, diced red onion, Kosher salt, white pepper, and lemon juice and transfer to an air tight container. Store in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Burger Assembly Instructions
  1. Season your burger patties with shawarma seasoning on both sides, cook on a charcoal grill (if you gave one) until desired doneness is achieved. If you don't have a charcoal grill, use a gas grill or cook on the stove in a cast iron skillet.

  2. Add the patty to your pita along with your Israeli salad an Israeli pickles. Drizzle on your tahini sauce and schug BBQ sauce and serve.

 

Meatless-stuffed Eggplant with Cilantro Tahini Sauce

There are many classic culinary pairings: lemon and blueberry, tomato and basil and the good ‘ole, eggplant and tahini. Well, you can also add in other pairings with eggplant like ground beef or lamb (or Beyond Meat in my case), parsley, lemon, garlic.. oh the list can go on and on.

Momspiration!

A few weeks ago, Ellie and I traveled to Kansas City to visit my parents and see my brother and his family who also came to visit. While I wasn’t planning any blog posts that week, I ended up getting a big dose of inspiration!

My mom makes this roasted eggplant dish, topped with tahini, for her Shabbat lunch lately and it’s a hit! Thanks mom, for the “food/mom-spiration” for my post: Meatless-stuffed Eggplant with Tahini Sauce – a perfect dish for #meatlessmondays!

She makes hers as more of a side, rather than a main meal that accompany’s her extravagant Shabbat meals. Such Shabbat food at the Katzman house might consist of grilled salmon, lamb and white bean stew, beet and mango salad and endless amounts of warm challah and chilled wine. Just sitting here typing this, I can smell the kitchen on Shabbat morning with the smell of garlic and rosemary in the stew. #YUM

Impressing your Friends

You can absolutely make this with the intention of a side dish, but I thought, “why not add some protein and make this into a full meal?” It’s just one extra step that really packs a flavor punch. I also added some warm, aromatic Indian-inspired spices to this dish (allspice, cinnamon and cumin), all while truly fulfilling my current Israeli-food kick.

In case you’re wondering, I used the ground Beyond Meat (the one that comes in the square packaging, not the burger patties). But by all means, this would be incredibly delish (or assuming my meat-eating friends and family would say so), with ground beef or lamb. Plus, it re-heats nicely, so it’s a great addition to your menu anytime of the week!

Feel free to make the beef mixture ahead of time before roasting the eggplant, if that helps you save some time.

And the tahini sauce will keep in the fridge for about 2 weeks and it’s great on pretty much on, well, anything. 🙂

Happy summer-eating!

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Meatless-stuffed Eggplant
Prep Time
20 mins
Cook Time
1 hr
 
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Israeli
Author: Rachel Katzman
Ingredients
  • 2 Large eggplants, halved and stems removed
  • Salt
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 Medium-sized yellow onion, diced
  • 2 Garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
  • 1 1/2 cups Ground Beyond Meat Or, use real ground beef or lamb!!
  • 1 tsp Ground Allspice
  • 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp Ground Cumin
  • 1/2 cup Fresh Cilantro, roughly chopped Or use parsley if that's more your jam! I had cilantro in the fridge so that's what I used
  • 1/4 cup Pine nuts, toasted
  • 1/2 Lemon
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 425F and place parchment paper in a casserole dish

  2. Place the eggplant, flesh side up, on a large tray. Sprinkle the top with salt and set aside for 20 minutes. Working in the sink, gently squeeze the eggplant and wipe the tops of the eggplant dry

  3. Cut a cross-hatch pattern into the eggplant flesh then brush with a little bit of olive oil. Lay the eggplant in the casserole dish, flesh-side down. Drizzle a little more extra virgin olive oil on top (you can also use a pastry brush to slather the oil all over the eggplant, so you have more control of how much oil is being used)

  4. Roast the eggplant for 30 minutes or until flesh is tender and golden brown (but not burnt)

  5. While eggplant is in the oven, make the meat stuffing mixture

  6. In a large skillet, heat 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil. Add ground Beyond Beef (or ground beef or lamb, if using) diced onions and garlic

  7. Brown the Beyond Meat mixture over medium-high heat until for 3-5 minutes. Season the with salt and pepper, allspice, cinnamon and cumin, Remove from heat

  8. Mix well and adjust seasonings as needed

  9. When eggplant is done roasting, remove from oven and set aside for a few minutes. Lower oven to 375F

  10. Using a spoon, gently push the eggplant flesh to make room for the meat mixture. Spoon the meat mixture to top the eggplant halves and top with the pine nuts

  11. Cover the casserole dish with foil. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes

  12. Top the eggplants with a good squeeze of lemon and drizzle the tahini dressing on top. Garnish with extra chopped parsley or cilantro and even some green onions if you want. These are from my porch garden! Serve warm with extra tahini dressing on the side, some hot sauce and a crusty piece of challah!

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Cilantro Tahini Sauce
Course: Condiment
Author: Rachel Katzman
Ingredients
  • 2 Garlic Cloves, peeled, roughly chopped
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 3/4 cup Tahini
  • 1/4 tsp Pepper
  • 1 Lemon, zested and juiced
  • 1/4 cup Cold water, to thin out the sauce The tahini will solidify in the fridge, especially if yours is pretty dry, so make sure you have enough water on hand to thin it out to the consistency that you'd like. Or you can add a boat-load of lemon juice to thin it out, like I did. Because ya'll know, I LOVE lemon!
  • 1 cup Fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped Or add parsley instead!
Instructions
  1. Add all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until all ingredients are combined

  2. Add water if the tahini sauce is too thick

  3. Serve drizzled on top of the roasted eggplant or serve with pita chips and veggies for an Israeli chips and dip!