Lahmacun - Turkish mini pizza
Lahmacun is the epitome of Turkish comfort food and a popular street food option in Turkey, Azerbaijan, and beyond.
When I was a kid my grandmother and I used to eat lahmacun at a small cafe near the university where she used to work as a professor (Baku State University). Sometimes we would get Lahmacun as a takeaway and eat it in a park. It was our guilty pleasure and we did it rarely, but I have some vivid memories of that. Before last year I have never ever had a homemade lahmacun, but as I was craving it and couldn’t find any good options in Copenhagen I decided to figure out how to make a good lahmacun. After watching endless Youtube videos from various Turkish food bloggers, I believe that Idil Yazar’s recipe has been the best reference for me so far. I hope you enjoy the process and the end result.
Ingredients
Topping
250 grams minced beef (or lamb)
2 grated tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
1 long red pepper (or bell pepper)
1/2 a fresh chili (optional)
1/2 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon harissa (or other chili & pepper paste)
1/2 cup of parsley
3 garlic cloves
1 onion
salt & pepper
Dough
320 grams plain flour + extra for dusting
200 ml warm water
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon instant yeast (powdered)
1 tablespoon olive oil
Method
Start with the dough. In a big bowl combine flour, salt, yeast, and warm water. Mix with your hands and knead the dough until it reaches smooth and silky consistency. The dough needs to be soft and a bit sticky, but not too much. You may have to add some extra flour if it is not forming into a shape and keeps sticking to your hands. Once you have reached the needed consistency pat the dough with olive oil. Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and leave to rise for about an hour.
Meanwhile, prepare the topping. Place minced meat into a large bowl.
Add grated tomatoes, tomato paste, harissa (or pepper paste of your choice), salt and pepper, chili flakes.
Chop parsley and add it to the mix.
Using a blended pulse onion, garlic, chili, and pepper. And the pure to the meat and mix all of the ingredients well.
Preheat the oven to 230C.
Prepare the baking tray and cover it with parchment paper. (You can also make lahmacun on a pizza stone if you have one).
Once the dough has risen, flour the surface and place the dough on it.
Roll the dough and divide it into 6-8 balls.
Now start preparing lahmacun bases one by one (keeping the rest of the dough balls under a towel to keep them from drying out).
As the dough is sticky flour the surface and rolling pin well. Flatten the balls with a rolling pin and roll out until the dough is very thin (make sure it’s not too thin as it might break after you place meat on it). The dough is a bit tricky to work with but it is worth the struggle.
Place the dough that you have rolled out (base) on the baking tray and spoon the topping on it. Using your fingers spread the topping to form a thin layer. If you try to put the topping on the dough before transferring it on your baking tray you might risk having holes in the dough and breaking the base while transferring it as it is so thin and fragile.
Repeat the process for each lahmacun.
Place your trays in the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes while watching closely. Depending on the oven this might take a bit less or more time. The meat should cook through and the dough start being golden (resembling pizza surface).
Take it out of the oven and serve while warm with parsley and lemon slices on the side.
