Easy Lahmacun Recipe

• servings: 4 servings
• active time: 20 minutes
• total time: 35 minutes

Ingredients

1/2 lb uncooked store-bought organic pizza dough

1/2 sweet red pepper, cored, cut into chunks

1 shallot, halved

2 garlic cloves, peeled

1/2oz fresh parsley leaves with some stem

7oz ground lamb/beef

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp ground allspice

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp Aleppo-style pepper

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp salt

4 tbsp tomato paste

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

lemon wedges for serving

Directions

Heat oven to 450°F. Adjust oven rack to the middle.

Prepare the meat mixture. In the large bowl of a food processor, fitted with blade, add red peppers, shallot, garlic, and parsley. Pulse a few times to chop. To the mixture, add ground lamb (or beef). Season with spices and salt. Add tomato paste and extra virgin olive oil. Now pulse again until well-combined (about 8-10 pulses).

Prepare two large rimmed baking sheets lined with parchment paper. (You’ll be using these to bake the Lahmacun in batches.)

Divide the pizza dough into 4 equal balls, about 2 oz each. Working with one ball of dough at a time, place on a floured surface. Using a rolling pin, roll dough out into as thin as you can to a disk that’s about 8-9 inches in diameter.

Assemble Lahmacun. Place one flatbread disk on one of the prepared pans. Reshape as needed. Spoon 3–4 tbsp topping onto dough and spread topping evenly to edges, leaving a thin border.

Bake in preheated oven for about 5 to 7 minutes, or until dough and meat are fully cooked. Dough will be a little crusty around the edges.

Squeeze a little lemon juice on top. Serve Lahmacun hot or at room temperature.

Notes

Two ways to cook Lahmacun

To make lahmacun, the idea is to spread the spiced meat topping very thinly across the dough. You can bake the lahmacun briefly until the topping is well cooked through and the dough turns nice and crispy around the edges. Or, if you don’t feel like warming up the oven, you can try the stovetop method using a large non-stick skillet (see recipe notes below).

How to Serve Lahmacun

Lahmacun is a popular on-the-go Turkish food. When you visit Turkey, you’ll see people walking the bustling streets of Istanbul, lahmacuns in hand, wrapped up like burritos, and cold glasses of ayran (a salty yogurt drink) to wash it down.

To serve lahmacun wraps, all you need is a squeeze of fresh lemon juice on top. Add a few slices of red onions, fresh mint leaves, and maybe a few radish slices. Wrap up and enjoy!

Or, to serve a larger crowd, you can slice lahmacun up like you would a pizza and add a drizzle of tahini sauce. Consider adding more mezze favorites on the side like this easy Mediterranean salad and roasted garlic hummus.

Nutrition

• Calories: 167
• Total Fat: 6.3 g
• Saturated Fat: 1.1 g
• Trans Fat: 0 g
• Cholesterol: 17 mg
• Sodium: 82.5 mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 16.1 g
• Dietary Fiber: 1.2 g
• Total Sugars: 0.8 g
• Protein: 9.9 g