What is Turkish pizza?
Turkish pizza, also known as "Lahmacun" in Turkish, is a popular Turkish street food and a traditional Middle Eastern dish.
Typically, Turkish pizza is a thin flat break topped with seasoned ground meat. The meat is spread thinly on the flat bread and cooked in a hot oven or on a stove.
Once the meat is cooked, it's topped with fresh vegetables, like lettuce, cucumber and mint. And can be served with a bit of lemon juice or a sauce like the one in this recipe.
The best frying pan for this recipe
This recipe calls for a large frying pan to cook the meat and the pitta bread. The best frying pan for making Turkish pizza (Lahmacun) would be a large, heavy-bottomed skillet or frying pan.
READ MORE: 15 of the best-rated non-stick fry pans in Australia
How to make Turkish pizza
Ingredients
500g beef or lamb mince
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp Aleppo pepper or sweet paprika
1 clove garlic, finely grated
1 Tbsp sea-salt flakes
1 Tbsp za’atar, plus extra, to serve
4 small pitta
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Shredded iceberg lettuce, sliced
Lebanese cucumber and mint leaves, to serve
SAUCE
3 gherkins, finely chopped
3 Tbsp jalapeños, finely chopped
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 Tbsp sriracha sauce
1 Tbsp tomato ketchup
1 Tbsp Dijon or American-style mustard
200ml mayonnaise
2 Tbsp sour cream
Method
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For Sauce, combine all the ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
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Combine mince, cumin, Aleppo pepper, garlic, salt and za’atar in a bowl to form a paste.
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Divide meat paste among pittas, pressing evenly onto one side of each pitta to cover.
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Heat oil in a large frying pan on medium heat. Cook, meat-side down, for 5 minutes, placing a flat lid (or other flat heavy item) on top of pitta (this helps to keep pitta flat and cook meat evenly). Flip and cook bread side for 2-3 minutes until crisp.
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Remove pitta from pan and top with sauce, lettuce, cucumber and mint leaves. Sprinkle with a little extra za’atar, fold and eat hot.
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