Description
Lahmacun, often called Turkish pizza, is a delicious thin flatbread topped with a flavorful mixture of ground lamb, fresh vegetables, and aromatic spices. This recipe combines a homemade soft dough base with a vibrant spiced meat topping, baked to perfection in a hot oven. Perfect as a light meal or appetizer, it’s traditionally served rolled up with fresh lemon, tomatoes, and salads.
Ingredients
Scale
Dough Base
- 2 cups all purpose flour (plain flour or bread flour)
- 1 teaspoon fast acting instant yeast
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon olive oil
- ⅔ cup lukewarm water (adjust as needed)
Topping
- 2 shallots or ½ red onion
- 2 cloves garlic (or 1 if large)
- 1 large tomato or 2 small tomatoes
- ½ red pepper
- ½ lb ground lamb (lamb mince, can substitute beef)
- 1 cup parsley leaves (lightly packed)
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon Aleppo pepper (or red pepper flakes)
- 2 teaspoon tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoon pine nuts (optional)
Instructions
- Prepare the Dough: In a large bowl, combine the flour, instant yeast, sugar, and salt. Drizzle in the olive oil and gradually add most of the lukewarm water. Mix by hand to bring the dough together, adding more water if needed, ensuring it is not too sticky. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes until smooth and elastic. Lightly oil the mixing bowl, place the dough back inside, cover with a cloth or cling film, and let it rise in a warm place for 1 to 1.5 hours until it roughly doubles in size.
- Prepare the Topping: Roughly chop the shallots or onion, garlic, tomato, and red pepper. Remove parsley leaves from stems. Place onion, pepper, garlic, and parsley in a food processor and pulse until broken down into small pieces. Add the ground lamb, tomato, allspice, cumin, paprika, Aleppo pepper, salt, tomato paste, and olive oil. Blend until well combined to form a cohesive topping mixture. Refrigerate if not using immediately.
- Preheat the Oven: Heat the oven to 425°F (220°C). If available, place a pizza stone in the oven to warm, or alternatively warm baking sheets or trays. Use parchment paper on top for baking.
- Shape the Lahmacun: Punch down the dough and divide it into 8 equal balls. Let them rest for about 5 minutes covered. Roll out one dough ball on a floured surface into a thin circle or oval about 6 to 8 inches (15 to 20 cm) in diameter, as thin as possible without tearing.
- Assemble the Lahmacun: Transfer the rolled dough onto a parchment-lined pizza stone or baking sheet. Spread a spoonful of the topping evenly over the surface, pressing it into a thin layer by hand if needed. Sprinkle pine nuts on top if desired. Repeat with remaining pieces.
- Bake: Bake each lahmacun for 12 to 15 minutes, placing them on the bottom rack initially and moving them up halfway through baking to ensure even cooking and browning. Cook one or two at a time for best results, preparing others while baking. The edges should brown slightly and the topping fully cooked.
- Serve: Serve hot, optionally rolled with slices of tomato, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, red onion slices, or a fresh chopped salad.
Notes
- The recipe instructions and demonstration photos show a half portion but the process is exactly the same for the full recipe.
- You can substitute ground beef for lamb if preferred.
- Pine nuts are optional and add a nice texture but are not traditional.
- Adjust water quantity when making dough to get the right consistency—it should be soft and elastic but not sticky.
- For best results, use a pizza stone preheated in the oven to crisp the base.
- Leftover topping mixture can be refrigerated for a day but is best fresh.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 piece
- Calories: 220
- Sugar: 3g
- Sodium: 350mg
- Fat: 10g
- Saturated Fat: 3g
- Unsaturated Fat: 6g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 22g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 12g
- Cholesterol: 40mg
