Lahmacun (pronounced lah-ma-jun)
In summer serve lahmacun with wedges of lemon, slices of ripe tomato and a big bunch of flat leaf parsley to put in the middle and roll up before eating. In winter replace the tomato with a drizzle of pomegranate molasses, add toasted pine nuts and parsley.
Serves: 4
Time: mins
Ingredients:
Topping
- 250g kid mince
- 1 onion, peeled and chopped
- 2 peeled tomatoes (fresh or tinned)
- 1 small red pepper, deseeded and chopped finely
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp chilli flakes (preferably Turkish)
- ½ tsp ground cumin seeds
- Pinch ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp salt
Dough
- 500g strong white bread flour
- 1 tsp dried yeast
- 5g salt
- Olive oil for oiling your hands and surface for initial knead
- 350ml cold water
To Serve
- 1 lemon, cut into wedges
- 1 large bunch parsley, washed and dried
- Ripe tomatoes, quartered
Method:
Dough Method
- Put the flour, salt and yeast in a big mixing bowl and add the water.
- Give the ingredients a good mix to combine. After a minute or so of mixing, the dough should be cohesive but will still feel wet ands sticky. Don’t add more flour.
- Place a damp cloth over the bowl and leave for an hour or so until almost doubled in size.
- When ready, turn the dough out onto the lightly oiled surface and knead it gently with lightly oiled hands for a minute.
Lahmucan Method
- Pre heat the oven to maximum.
- Put all the topping ingredients apart from the kid mince into a food processor or blender and blend to a coarse paste. Do not over mix. Add the kid mince and very briefly mix. Set aside.
- Put the pizza stone or baking tray into the oven to pre heat.
- On a well-floured surface roll each dough ball into thin ovals getting the dough as thin as possible without tearing.
- Carefully remove the pizza stone or baking tray form the oven and place on a heatproof surface.
- Lay the lahmacun on the tray and use a spoon to smear a thin layer of the topping all over the dough.
- Bake for 6-8 minutes until the dough is crisp and the topping is well cooked. Serve immediately.
