Easy Turkish Lahmacun Recipe

Author: The Mediterranean Dish | Prep Time: 20 mins | Cook Time: 5 mins | Total Time: 25 minutes |  Yield: Serves 4 to 8 people

Think of Lahmacun (Lahamajoun) as super thin, crispy Turkish pizza (or flatbread) topped with a flavor-packed mixture of minced meat with peppers, tomato, fresh herbs and earthy spices. I take a major shortcut by using quality store-bought pizza dough. But the secret is in the spice mixture.

INGREDIENTS

Dough

1/2 lb uncooked store-bought organic pizza dough

Topping

1/2 sweet red pepper, cored, cut into chunks
1 shallot, halved
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 oz fresh parsley leaves with some stem
7 oz ground lamb or ground beef
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp Aleppo-style pepper
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt
4 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp Private Reserve Greek extra virgin olive oil
Lemon wedges for later

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat oven to 450 degrees F. Adjust oven rack to the middle. (or see stove-top instructions in notes)

2. Prepare the meat mixture. In the large bowl of a food processor, fitted with blade, add red peppers, shallot, garlic, and parsley. Pulse a few times to chop. To the mixture, add ground lamb (or beef).
Season with spices and salt. Add tomato paste and extra virgin olive oil. Now pulse again until well-combined (about 8 to 10 pulses.)

3. Prepare two large rimmed baking sheets lined with parchment paper (you’ll be using these to bake the Lahmacun in batches.)

4. Divide the pizza dough into 4 equal balls (about 2 oz each.) Working with one ball of dough at a time, place on a floured surface. Using a rolling pin, roll dough out into as thin as you can to a disk that’s about 8 or 9 inches in diameter.

5. Assemble Lahmacun. Place one flatbread disk on one of the prepared pans. Reshape as needed.  Spoon 3–4 tbsp topping onto dough and spread topping evenly to edges, leaving a thin boarder.

6. Bake in heated oven for about 5 to 7 minutes or until dough and meat are fully cooked (dough will be a little crusty around the edges.)

7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 with the remaining dough.

8. Squeeze a little lemon juice on top. Serve Lahmacun hot or at room temperature.  See notes below for how to serve.

NOTES

Cook’s Tip: if 1/2 lb pizza dough doesn’t seem enough for you…if it’s not giving you enough for your crowd, you can go ahead and use 1 lb pizza dough. The mixture should still be enough. If you need to feed even more people, and you need to use more pizza dough, then simply double the meat topping.

Cook’s Tip for How to Cook Lahmacun on Stovetop: You can cook Lahmacun on stovetop instead of heating up the oven.  You will need a large non-stick skillet with a lid. Pre-heat skillet over medium heat and add just a little bit of extra virgin olive oil. Place one Lahamacun in heated skillet and cover with lid. Cook for about 5 minutes until the meat and dough are cooked through.

Nutrition Facts

Serves 8

Amount Per Serving
Calories		167
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 6.3g		10%
Sodium 82.5mg		3%
Total Carbohydrate 16.1g		5%
	Dietary Fiber 1.2g	5%
	Sugars 0.8g
Protein 9.9g		20%
·         Vitamin A2% ·         Vitamin C37% ·         Calcium4% ·         Iron15% ·         Magnesium5% ·         Potassium6% ·         Zinc11% ·         Phosphorus8% ·         Thiamin (B1)18% ·         Riboflavin (B2)6% ·         Niacin (B3)13% ·         Vitamin B611% ·         Folic Acid (B9)3% ·         Vitamin B1217% ·         Vitamin E1% ·         Vitamin K31%