Turkish pizza with spicy mince (lahmacun)

This oval-shaped flatbread topped with spicy lamb or beef mince is Turkey’s take on pizza. Originating in the country’s south-east province of Gaziantep, it’s topped with salad or pickles and lemon juice, then rolled up and eaten on the go.

Credit: SBS Food

• makes

  4

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  50 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 1 x 7 g yeast sachet
• 1 egg
• 80 ml (⅓ cup) olive oil
• 300 g (2 cups) plain flour, sifted, plus extra, to dust
• 1 tsp caster sugar

Spicy lamb topping

• 60 ml (¼ cup) olive oil

• 6 garlic cloves, chopped
• 6 truss tomatoes, chopped
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 3 tsp sumac (see Note)
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp dried chilli flakes
• 400 g minced lamb
• 70 g (¼ cup) tahini
• ½ lemon, juiced
• 50 g (⅓ cup) pine nuts, toasted
• 2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley

Standing time 2 hrs 10 mins

Cooling time 30 mins

Instructions

Dissolve yeast in 80 ml warm water in a bowl. Stand in a warm, draught-free place for 10 minutes or until mixture bubbles.

Whisk egg and olive oil in a small bowl. Place flour, sugar and a pinch of salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Make a well in centre and add egg and yeast mixtures. Knead on low speed until a dough forms, then knead for 6 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Cover with a damp tea towel and set aside in a warm, draught-free place for 1 hour or until dough doubles in size.

Turn out dough onto a lightly floured work surface, divide into 4 equal balls and roll out to form 22 cm ovals. Place on 4 trays lined with baking paper, cover with damp tea towels and set aside for 1 hour or until slightly risen.

Preheat oven to 200°C. Meanwhile, to make the topping, heat 2 tbsp oil in a frying pan over  medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until fragrant. Add tomatoes and cook, pressing down on tomatoes, for 15 minutes or until liquid is slightly reduced. Add tomato paste, sumac, paprika and chilli, and season with salt and pepper. Stir for 1 minute, then remove from heat and set aside to cool. Combine with minced lamb and season with salt and pepper.

Brush dough rounds with remaining 1 tbsp oil, then spread over lamb topping. Working in batches, if necessary, bake pizzas for 20 minutes or until golden and crisp.

Whisk tahini and lemon juice in a bowl to combine, and season. Drizzle pizzas with tahini mixture, then scatter with pine nuts and parsley. Serve immediately.

Note
• Sumac is a tangy reddish-brown Middle Eastern spice, available from supermarkets.

Photography by Chris Chen

As seen in Feast magazine, March 2014, Issue 29. For more recipes and articles, pick up a copy of this month's Feast magazine or check out our great subscriptions offers here.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.