Meat/ Pizza/ Salad/ Yotam Ottolenghi

Lahmacun | Turkish Pizza and Salad

New York, Chicago or Turkish pizza — take your pick. Let’s start with the least well known of the three, the Turkish pizza. They are smaller and thinner. They come with meat, mostly beef or lamb. A cucumber and tomato salad goes well with the pizza. By all measures, you’d definitely get the essence of everyday Turkish food with this pizza and salad.

The distinct Turkish flavor comes from the marinated ground meat, seasoned with cinnamon, all spice, chili flakes, sumac and pomegranate molasses. (A bottle of sumac came home with me on the first trip to Turkey. I’ve been using sumac, with a tart flavor that is reminiscent of vinegar or lemon, on vegetables or grains ever since.) Once you roll out the pizza dough, spread tahini on it, then cover the pizza fully with the marinated meat. Now, it’s ready to go into the 410°F oven. Bake the pizza for about 20-25 minutes. Sprinkle the pine nuts half way through and return it to the oven, until the pizza is evenly browned.

There is no other dish that evokes the smell and taste of Turkey more than the Turkish pizza with a salad of cucumber and tomatoes. Scores of green houses growing these vegetables stippled the rolling landscape in the countryside of Turkey. Although Ottolenghi says the salad is optional, I consider that an integral part of the Turkish culinary experience.

Lahmacun – Turkish pizza with spicy minced beef and salad topping

Serves: Makes 4 large or 12 small snack size pizzas

Ingredients

  • FOR THE TOPPING:
  • 250g minced beef or lamb;
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped (180g net)
  • 1¼ tsp salt
  • 1½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1½ tsp ground allspice
  • ½ tsp red chilli flakes
  • 25g flat-leaf parsley, chopped
  • 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
  • 1½ tbsp sumac
  • 3 tbsp tahini
  • 25g pine nuts
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • FOR THE DOUGH:
  • 250g white flour, plus extra to dust
  • 1½ tbsp milk powder
  • ½ tbsp salt
  • 2 tsp fast-action dried yeast
  • ½ tbsp caster sugar
  • 60ml sunflower oil
  • 1 medium egg
  • 100ml lukewarm water
  • Olive oil for brushing
  • FOR THE SALAD (optional):
  • 1 mini-cucumber
  • cut into 1cm dice (190g)
  • 2 small tomatoes, cut into 1cm dice (150g)
  • 10 radishes, thinly sliced (75g)
  • ½ red onion, thinly sliced (65g)
  • 10g parsley, roughly chopped
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • Salt and black pepper

Instructions

1

Start with the dough. Put the flour, milk powder, salt, yeast and sugar in a large mixing bowl and stir well to combine. Make a well in the centre. Add the sunflower oil and egg and stir as you add the water. When the dough comes together, remove it from the bowl and knead lightly for 3 minutes on your work surface until smooth, elastic and uniform. Dust a bowl lightly with flour, place the dough inside, brush with some olive oil, cover with cling film and leave somewhere warm for 1 hour, at which point the dough should have almost doubled.

2

Put all of the topping ingredients in a large bowl, apart from the tahini, pine nuts and lemon juice. Mix well with your hands and refrigerate.

3

Preheat the oven to 410°F/210°C and line two large baking sheets with baking parchment.

4

Divide the risen dough into 40g balls, you should get about 12, and roll each into a thin disc, about 2mm thick and 15cm in diameter. Brush each disc lightly with olive oil on both sides and place on the baking sheet. Cover and leave to rise for 15 minutes.

5

If you make the salad, mix together the vegetables and add the parsley, lemon juice, olive oil, ¼ teaspoon of salt and ¼ teaspoon of pepper. Stir gently and set aside.

6

Spread the tahini onto each pastry disc, divide the filling between the pastries and spread it evenly so it covers the dough fully. Sprinkle over the pine nuts and place in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until just cooked. You want to make sure the pastry is just baked, not over-baked; the topping can be slightly pink inside and the pastry golden when you look underneath. Remove from the oven, spoon the salad on top, if making, and finish with a drizzle of lemon juice.

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1 Comment

  • Reply
    Kim Tracy
    March 17, 2019 at 5:50 pm

    Yes, yes, yes! This pizza has some of my very favorite flavors. I love sumac – it’s so bright and refreshing. Tahini makes the perfect sauce for the crust. I just love everything about this. Bookmarking this one!

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