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Lahmacun Turkish Pizza

Lahmacun is a street food served in Turkey and Armenia, a tasty cross between a ‘pizza’ and a wrap. The base is a thin flatbread topped with a layer of blended onion, green pepper, fragrant spicing incorporated into raw beef mince and when cooked resembles a minced meat pizza. Traditionally lahmacun is scattered with a cut salad of iceberg lettuce, tomato and cucumber, rolled and eaten as a wrap.

If you are having any dairy intolerant friends around for a pizza night this is a great option as there is no cheese on this ‘pizza’. For vegetarians the mixture can be made with quorn mince that has been pulsed to break down the quorn mince into smaller pieces and spiced as you would with the beef mince.

I am sure you all go through that ‘What to cook’ conundrum, for me lahmacun is a great something different, fun and tasty option mid week or on a weekend.  What I also like is that although you are making your own dough (I know in South Africa you can buy your bread dough from the bakery which makes life so much easier) but you can break your cooking into stages. I pop the bread dough into the bread maker in my lunch hour, if I am working from home. If I am out all day I make the dough the night before and keep it in the fridge. Then when I am ready to cook dinner, I blend the vegetables and spices in minutes. Or if you are pushed for time and have the vegetable mix waiting in the fridge for assembly. From rolling the dough to topping to cooking takes 30 minutes.

You can buy lahmachun from Turkish Bakeries or an Okabash and if you have, you would never think that the mince is raw and the cooking of the mince is done in the oven, but this method does work best. I have been generous with the meat and spread a non traditional thicker layer over the dough. Usually as lahmacun is an inexpensive street food there would be a sparse scattering of meat. As I am serving this as an evening meal and not as on the run or a snack, the mince portion is much more substantial and less traditional. That is the beauty of using ideas and tweaking them to your needs and budget.

This would be a great recipe for children cooking for their skills Duke of Edinburgh Award.

 

Lahmacun Turkish Pizza
 
Preparation time
Cooking time
Total time
 
A delicious cross between a pizza and a wrap. Easy to make and a delicious, different mid-week meal or feed a crowd party option.
Marissa:
Recipe type: Light Lunches
Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Servings: 4
Ingredients
  • Pizza Dough
  • 1½ cups Plain Flour, plus more as needed
  • 1 teaspoon Instant Yeast
  • 1 teaspoon Salt
  • ½ cups Warm Water
  • 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
  • Meat Filling
  • 1 Onion, white or red
  • 2 Green Peppers,deseeded
  • 1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
  • 2 Tablespoons Pomegranate Molasses
  • ½ teaspoon All Spice
  • 1 teaspoon Ground Cumin
  • 1 teaspoon Chilli Flakes (omit or increase for a spicier lahmacun)
  • 4 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
  • Small bunch fresh Parsley
  • 200g Beef Mince
  • Sumac to sprinkle on cooked lahmacun
  • Salad Topping: Chop tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, red onion - dressed in olive oil and lemon juice
Method
  1. You can use ready made dough or ready pizza bases they are thick but you would serve them as a pizza as opposed to a wrap
  2. Dough
  3. Food Processor Method
  4. In a food processor add the flour, water, yeast, oil and salt.
  5. Process until the mixture forms a dough.
  6. Add more flour if the dough is too wet, it should form a smooth ball.
  7. Remove from the bowl knead for a few minutes and allow the dough to double in size.
  8. Or
  9. Add the recipe to a bread maker and choose the dough function, it needs to be the longer cycle at least 1 hour 15 minutes.
  10. Lachmacun Topping
  11. In a food processor add the onion, green peppers, cinnamon, pomegranate molasses, all spice, cumin, parsley, chilli flakes and tomato paste.
  12. Blend until everything is finely chopped almost pulp-like.
  13. Pour the vegetable mixture over the meat.
  14. Using a fork mix the ingredients together.
  15. Don't be tempted to use your hands you need the meat to be able to separate into small granules. If you use your hands to mix the meat and vegetables you will not achieve the texture required.
  16. Roll the dough as thin as you can, it needs to resemble a wrap rather than a pizza, but if you prefer you can make it into a thin crust pizza base.
  17. Dollop the raw mince onto the pizza dough, add the mixture in a thin even layer using a fork to the spead mixture evenly.
  18. Bake at 220 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until the meat is golden brown.
  19. Serve topped with the dressed salad ingredients and if you have made them in the traditional style roll the lahmacun and eat it like a wrap.
Tips
Notes

You can make and knead the dough by hand and chop the vegetables into a very fine dice by hand too.

You can use ready made dough or ready pizza bases, they are thicker but you would serve the lahmacun as a pizza, as opposed to a wrap, it is just as tasty.

The prepared dough can be stored covered in an oiled bowl in the fridge for up to two days. Do punch it down often as it will still rise in the fridge.
If I am ever near a Turkish restaurant I will always look out for this menu item, it is one of the most unassuming, tasty snacks you can have on the run.

I hope you are tempted to try this recipe, if you do please share your pictures on my social media pages.

 

 

 

 

 

This is a great way to do something different with a packet of mince and is delicious quick and easy meal.

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