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Yai's Thai Sloppy Joes

Source of Recipe

From "Cravings: All Together" by Chrissy Teigen


Recipe Introduction

"I forget: Did we all f*cking LOVE sloppy joe day in school or did we hate it?? I *believe* I loved it, but I also have images in my head of those commercials in which angry lunch ladies used their giant spoons to aggressively bang it onto your plastic tray. Which, by the way, is so unfair. Lunch ladies are always portrayed so horribly! Who created this fantasy in the first place? They feed your kids! Be nice to them! Anyhow, I would *live* for sloppy joe day now, because our super-easy Thai pita version was the absolute BEST thing to shoot in this entire book. No, pitas are not the traditional vehicle for sloppy joes, and coconut milk and fish sauce weren't in my cafeteria either, but who cares? We ate about three of these each...on *both* photo shoots. Because, full disclosure: Mom has her recipe for these in her book, and now I have stolen the recipe and made it my own because I wanted to make sure that you had it. You deserve this recipe once, twice, three times a shady (daughter). Consider these my sloppy seconds."

List of Ingredients

â—¦ 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
â—¦ ½ medium yellow onion, finely minced
â—¦ 6 cloves garlic, minced
â—¦ 1 pound ground beef
â—¦ ¼ cup tomato paste
â—¦ ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
â—¦ ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
â—¦ 1 cup red or yellow cherry tomatoes, quartered
â—¦ ½ cup diced red bell pepper
â—¦ 2 tablespoons full-fat coconut milk
â—¦ 1 tablespoon blond miso paste
â—¦ 1 tablespoon fish sauce, plus more for seasoning
â—¦ 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
â—¦ 4 pocket pitas
â—¦ 12 medium butter lettuce leaves
â—¦ 1 large vine-ripened tomato, cut into thin rounds


Recipe

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until it begins to soften, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, 1 more minute.

Add the beef and cook, stirring and breaking up with a wooden spoon, until just barely no longer pink, about 4 minutes. Add the tomato paste, white pepper, and cayenne and cook, stirring, until caramelized, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the cherry tomatoes and bell pepper and cook, stirring, until the tomatoes melt a bit, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the coconut milk, miso paste, fish sauce, and brown sugar and cook, stirring, until a slightly thick sauce forms, 2 to 3 minutes. Season with a drop more fish sauce, if you feel like it. Remove the skillet from the heat.

Warm the pitas over a gas flame or by wrapping them in a slightly damp cloth and microwaving for 30 seconds. Stuff each pita with two lettuce leaves, a tomato slice, and one-fourth of the meat mixture.

Serves 4