Cooking Lahmacun
There is a type of Turkish food that I have been missing for a while and thought that I would try to recreate it. I based my recipe on one I found at mymerhaba.com. My take is as follows:
Ingredients for the topping
- 4 medium onions, peeled and chopped in four
- 225g piquillo peppers
- 750g minced beef
- 1 tomato
- 2tbsp tomato purée
- 1 tbsp of salt
- A handful of chopped parsley
Ingredients for the base
- 1 small cup of oil (I used 3:1 vegetable oil to olive oil)
- 1 small cup of water
- 1 tbsp of salt
- 1kg plain flour + some for rolling
Ingredients to serve
- A handful of chopped, fresh parsley
- A lemon
Set the oven to 220ºC and have two baking sheets on standby.
Blend the ingredients for the topping together until of a mixed, finely diced texture. Then, with your hands (or a strong spoon if you prefer) mix the blended ingredients into the minced meat well. You want to have an even, fine mix, but not to obliterate the meat so do not blend it. Leave to one side.
For the base, sift in the flour and salt into a large bowl. Make a well and pour in the oil and water. Mix and kneed well and leave to rest.
Dust a surface and prepare yourself for 60 minutes of non-stop activity. Take a walnut sized piece of dough, and roll it out as thin as you can, put it onto one of the baking trays and then spread out a tablespoon of the topping mixture as thin as you can over the surface. Put the tray in the oven for six minutes, and then start on the other tray. Keep making the lahmacun and rotating the trays through the oven. You should be able to make at least 20 reasonable lahmacun from the two mixtures.
Once cooked, they can be eaten immediately or by reheating under a hot grill for around 30 seconds. Squirt over some lemon juice, add some parsley and roll before eating still hot!
Cooked Lahmacun
This Turkish (or let’s say ‘regional’) pizza-style dish is absolutely delicious. It varies a little from country to country, but is almost always served fresh and cheaply as fast food or in restaurants alike.
