Stranger Foods

TurkishLahmacun

Serves 8 | Prep 1 hr | Cook 15 mins

Often described as mini Turkish pizzas, these breads are traditionally fired up in seconds in the searing heat of a wood-fired oven. Topped with spicy minced lamb and herbs, they are great as a snack or a main meal. Making them in your own home isn’t a chore at all and you can achieve pretty spectacular results. This is great family food, although hold back on a little of the spicing if not everyone likes chilli heat.

Source: Persiana

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

x0.5

For the dough

1 tsp caster sugar
2x 7 g sachets fast-action dried yeast, dissolved in 2 tbsp warm water
300 g strong white bread flour
1 tsp sea salt flakes, crushed
150 g Greek yogurt
50 ml olive oil, plus extra for brushing
lemon wedges, to serve

For the topping

250 g minced lamb
2 ripe tomatoes, deseeded and finely diced
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tsp Turkish dried chilli flakes (Pul Biber) or 2 red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped (Pul Biber) or 2 red chillies
handful of flat leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped
sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

°C

°F

Show amounts inline

Add the sugar to the dissolved yeast and stir. Allow it to sit for about until it becomes frothy.
Sift the flour into a large bowl, then add the sea salt flakes. In a small bowl, combine the yogurt with the olive oil until evenly mixed. Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the yogurt mixture, along with the yeast mixture. Work the flour into the liquid using your hands until a dough forms, then work the dough into a smooth ball, adding flour or a little splash of water if needed.
Knead the dough for , then allow it to rest for before kneading it again for . Repeat this process another 3 times, then return the dough to the bowl, cover with a clean tea towel and leave it to rest somewhere warm for a couple of hours until it doubles in size. Knock back the dough and divide it into 8 balls. Roll these out into roughly 15 cm diameter circles and brush with olive oil.
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Line 2 large baking sheets with nonstick baking paper.
To make the topping, put the lamb, tomatoes, onion, chilli, parsley and a generous amount of sea salt flakes and pepper into a large mixing bowl and work the mixture really well, pushing the meat through your fingers to break down the fibres. Turn out the mixture on to a chopping board and, using a large knife, chop it for several minutes until it resembles a paste.
Divide the topping into 8 portions and smear over each of the dough bases (you don’t need to cover the dough entirely). Place each on the prepared baking sheets and bake for , or until the dough is cooked and the crust begins to turn golden. Serve immediately with lemon wedges

Similar recipes

Vegetarian turkish pide Photograph of Arabic samosas.

Arabic samosas Photograph of Open meat pies.

Open meat pies Photograph of Turkish flatbread.

Turkish flatbread