Lamb pide

Lahmacun

By: Sevtap Yüce
From: Turkish Meze
Serves: 12
Photographer: Alicia Taylor

Here’s a recipe for a classic Turkish ‘pizza’, loved the world over. If you have any dough left over after baking the pide, heat the baking tray in the oven again until very hot. Roll the dough into 20 cm circles and bake them in the oven for 5 minutes, to make little pocket breads.

If you are lucky enough to have a wood-fired oven, you can stretch the dough out thinly and make lavash bread, as well as your pides.

You can also cook the pide in a pizza oven. Heat the pizza oven until hot. Roll each ball of dough into thin sheets, spread a thin layer of topping over each and bake until golden brown.

Ingredients

Quantity	Ingredient
2 tablespoons	olive oil
1	onion, finely diced
250g	minced lamb
30g	chopped flat-leaf parsley, plus extra to garnish
2	long green chillies, finely diced
2	tomatoes, finely diced
2 tablespoons	tomato paste
	lemon wedges, to serve

Dough

Quantity	Ingredient
1/2 teaspoon	sugar
1 teaspoon	dried yeast
450g	plain flour
80ml	olive oil

Method

To make the dough, mix the sugar and yeast in a large bowl with 300 ml lukewarm water. Allow the yeast to activate for a few minutes.
Add the flour and a pinch of sea salt and mix into a dough, using your hands. Knead in the bowl until the dough feels like your earlobe. Cover and leave to rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
Punch the dough down and knead in the bowl for another 5 minutes. Cover and leave to rise for a further 1 hour. Roll the ball of dough in the olive oil. Cover and leave to rest for a further 1 hour, until doubled in size.
Meanwhile, make the topping. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and gently fry the onion until golden. Add the remaining topping ingredients, except the lemon wedges. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and stir together for a few minutes, ensuring all the ingredients are well mixed. The lamb should remain partially uncooked, as you will be baking it in the oven.
Place the topping mixture in a strainer and set aside to drain.
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Heat two large baking trays in the oven until very hot.
Punch the dough down again and divide into 12 small balls. Let the dough rest again for 2–3 minutes, then roll each ball out to a 20 cm circle. Spread each one with about 2 tablespoons of the topping and place on the hot baking trays (you may need to work in batches).
Bake for 10 minutes, or until the bread is is golden.
Garnish with extra parsley and serve hot, with lemon wedges.