Homemade Lahmacun (Turkish Flatbread with Spiced Mince)
Paper-thin Turkish flatbread topped with a fragrant paste of minced meat, peppers, onion and isot, baked hot and fast. Roll it up with parsley, sumac onions and lemon.
Ask Bio about this recipe
Ingredients
450g plain flour
5g instant dry yeast (half a sachet)
1 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar and 270ml lukewarm water
300g minced lamb or beef (about 20% fat)
1 large onion, roughly chopped
1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped
1 large bunch fresh parsley, half for the topping, half to serve
1 tbsp hot pepper paste (biber salcasi)
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 tsp isot (Urfa) chilli flakes
1 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tbsp olive oil
To serve: lemon wedges and thinly sliced onion tossed with 1 tsp sumac
Instructions
- 1
Mix the flour, yeast, salt and sugar, add the lukewarm water and knead for 8 minutes to a soft, elastic dough. Cover and rest for 45-60 minutes, until puffy.
- 2
For the topping, pulse the onion, red pepper and half the parsley in a food processor until finely chopped, then tip into a sieve and press out the excess juice - this keeps the topping from making the dough soggy.
- 3
Combine the drained vegetables with the mince, pepper paste, tomato paste, isot, paprika, cumin, olive oil and 1 teaspoon of salt. Knead to a soft, spreadable paste.
- 4
Heat the oven to its maximum (ideally 260-280C) with a large tray or pizza stone inside. Divide the dough into 8 balls and rest for 10 minutes.
- 5
Roll each ball on a floured surface into a very thin round about 22cm across - you should almost see the worktop through the dough.
- 6
Spread a thin, even layer of the meat paste right to the edges with the back of a spoon. Bake in batches on the hot tray for 4-6 minutes, until the edges are blistered and lightly charred but the base is still flexible.
- 7
Stack the baked lahmacun under a clean tea towel so they stay soft. Serve hot with parsley sprigs, sumac onions and lemon wedges - fill, squeeze, roll and eat with cold ayran or salgam.
Lahmacun is often called Turkish pizza, but it is really its own thing: a flatbread rolled almost paper thin, spread with a wet, intensely flavoured paste of minced meat, onion, red pepper, parsley and Turkish pepper paste, then blasted in a hot oven for just a few minutes. The edges char and crisp while the middle stays supple enough to roll.
The topping should be more vegetable than meat - in Gaziantep and Sanliurfa the mince is stretched with plenty of onion, pepper and tomato, and seasoned with isot (smoky Urfa chilli), sweet paprika and cumin. Blitz everything to a spreadable paste and apply it thinly; a thick layer steams the base instead of crisping it.
All the store-cupboard essentials - Oncu pepper paste, isot chilli flakes, sumac and Turkish flour - are delivered UK-wide by Turkish Online Market. Serve the lahmacun hot off the tray with parsley sprigs, sumac onions and a big squeeze of lemon, rolled up and eaten in hand with a glass of cold ayran or salgam.
More recipes
Main DishesSehriyeli Pilav (Turkish Rice Pilaf with Orzo)
The classic Turkish side dish: fluffy baldo rice studded with golden toasted orzo, cooked in butter so every grain stands separate. Foolproof method included.
Main DishesKiymali Makarna (Turkish Pasta with Minced Meat)
The ultimate Turkish weeknight dinner: pasta tossed with a rich minced meat and tomato paste sauce, finished with butter, grated cheese and a spoon of yoghurt.
Main DishesZeytinyagli Taze Fasulye (Green Beans in Olive Oil)
The definitive Turkish olive oil dish: flat green beans slowly braised with onion, tomato and plenty of extra virgin olive oil, then served at room temperature with lemon. Simple, healthy and endlessly moreish.
Main DishesPatlican Kebabi (Aubergine & Meatball Kebab)
A classic southern Turkish tray kebab where smoky aubergine slices are layered with spiced meatballs and baked in a rich tomato sauce. Pure comfort food, easily made in a UK home oven.
