Egyptian Fatteh

A comforting Egyptian beef fatteh layered with crispy pita, seasoned rice, savory tomato-garlic sauce and pan-fried beef — rich, aromatic and perfect for sharing.

Ingredients

main

0.45 kg beef
1 pcs onion
1 pcs chicken stock cube
2 pcs tomatoes
4 pcs garlic cloves
1 tbsp tomato puree
2 cups rice
0.25 cups noodles (fideo)
0.25 cups butter
2 cups olive oil
1 pcs pita bread
1 tbsp cumin
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
salt
pepper

Directions

Tear pita into bite-size pieces and fry in about 1/4 stick (≈0.25 cups) butter until golden and crisp, place in a baking dish and set aside.
In the same pan add a little more butter, ~2 crushed garlic cloves, ~1 tsp cumin and salt, toss fried bread to coat and return to the baking dish.
Brown beef in butter, add quartered onion, salt, pepper, chicken stock cube and enough water to cover; simmer covered about 2 hours until tender, remove meat and reserve broth.
For the rice: brown fideo/noodles in butter until golden, add 2 cups rice, stir until some grains turn opaque, add 2.25 cups water and salt, bring to a boil, cover and simmer ~35 minutes until tender.
Pour some reserved meat broth over the fried bread in the dish to saturate, spread cooked rice over bread, then spoon more broth over rice so it reaches just to the top of the rice.
For the red sauce: sauté crushed tomato with ~0.5 tsp tomato paste, 2 crushed garlic cloves, ~3 tbsp vinegar, ~1 tsp cumin, salt and pepper in oil or butter until slightly thick and smooth; spread over the rice.
Fry the cooked beef in a bit of butter or oil with ~1 tbsp crushed garlic, ~1 tsp cumin, a touch of tomato paste, salt and pepper until golden.
Spoon the fried beef over the sauced rice and serve.