Lahmacun

Now you may ask what is Lahmacun, well it is a pizza dough spread with lamb or beef mince that has had herbs and spices added to it.

It originated in the Middle East.

You then eat it like a pizza and traditionally roll it around pickles or a salad similar to a greek salad.

This is the way that we eat it.

Now I have made this before, after reading several recipes the consensus was to cook the mince first then place it onto the raw dough.

DON'T what every you do follow that path what you are left with is hard little nuggets of mince, think gravel.

The only saving grace was that I had served a salad with it so we could try and moisten the meat with the juice from the salad.

I still shudder at the thought of it.UGH !

This recipe is enough for 6 nearly dinner plate size lahmacun's. You could easily double it if you are feeding more people.

Dough
1 tsp (sachet) dried yeast, 1 tsp sugar, 1/2 cup warm water + extra 1/2 cup warm water, 2 1/2 cups plain flour

In a small bowl mix together 1/2 cup warm water and the sugar, sprinkle the yeast on top. Leave 15 minutes for the yeast to foam and bubble. I place a tea towel over the top to create warmth.

This is the yeast after 15 minutes, see how it is puffed up.










In a large bowl place the flour and yeast mixture, using you hands (the best kitchen tool ) start to mix together then add enough of the remaining water to form a sticky dough.

Turn out onto a floured surface and kneaded for 3 - 5 minutes or until the dough comes together into a nice ball.

Oil a bowl added the dough ball spray oil on top then cover with cling wrap.

Se how I drape the cling wrap down the sides of the bowl, making sure it is adhered to the bowl.

This is to create a little greenhouse that will help warm the dough causing it to rise.

Leave the dough for 1 - 2 hours.

This is my dough after an hour and half.

The only reason I left the dough for so long was because Mr CLI was late home from  work.







When risen dump the dough onto a floured surface , kneaded for about 1 minute the cut into 6 equal sized balls. Leave while mixing meat together.

Meat Topping
500 gms minced lamb or beef ( my preference is lamb), 1/2 bunch each parsley and mint, finely chopped, 1 medium tomato finely chopped, 1/4 red capsicum finely chopped, 1 tsp each ground cumin, sweet paprika & sumac, 1 tbsp butter, 1/2 onion and 2 cloves garlic whizzed together in a food processor

Preheat the oven 220.c

Melt the butter add the onion/garlic mix, saute until most of the liquid has evaporated and the mixture is soft. Leave to cool.

In a large bowl mix together all topping ingredients. Once again your hand is the best tool as you can mix and squeeze the mince so it forms almost a paste, this is so it can be easily spread across the dough.





Roll out the balls of dough quite thin approx 2 - 3 mm. Place onto oiled trays, spread the mince mixture over, leaving about 1.5 cm edge. Now I just used my fingers again and flattened the mince, you have to be careful because the dough is so thin.

Oil the edges of the dough so that they will crisp and brown. I use an oil spray.

Bake 12 - 15 minutes. Once the topping is cooked and the edges have browned, if the base is still a little soft I slide it onto the oven rack and leave for 2 - 3 minutes to crisp up the bottom.

Now you don't want the bottom to hard because you won't be able to fold it around the salad.




Once cooked remove from the oven and cut into 4 pieces. Serve with salad if you are using it. Also a squeeze of lemon is nice on the lahmacun.

Salad
approx 3 iceburg lettuce leaves.1 medium tomato, 1/2 red capsicum , 100 grams feta, all cut into 1 cm dice 1 dessertspoon olive oil and 1 tsp champagne vinegar

Place all ingredients into a bowl and toss.