Lahmacun
If you ever been to Turkey, you will see eateries pulling stacks of these wonderful flatbreads outta their giant wood fire ovens. As I had mentioned earlier in my previous post, pls do not call this a pizza. You do not want angry Turkish people staring at you, this is lahmacun. Traditionally, minced lamb is used as the toppings along with loads of herbs and spices. But I used chicken thigh instead.
I also served mine with a simple sumac salad. If you followed my Instagram stories, you will know that it took me 3 tries to get this right. 1stly, I shaped out the dough by hands. I then toasted the bottom in a skillet, wacked it on the top rack of my convectional oven. It puffed up too much and the toppings were slightly burned. On second try, I rolled out the dough instead without toasting in the skillet. Wacked into the middle rack of the oven, the toppings turned out okay, but the bottom is not as good as the 1st try. I mixed and matched, got it right on my 3rd try.
I am still figuring out ways to replicate a wood fire oven effect with a convectional oven at home, but until this day, I am still far behind. Perhaps it is time to invest in a pizza oven? You guys have any brands to recommend? What do you think? In the meantime, let's get started with the recipe.
Ingredients:
(Make 4 lahmacun)
Toppings:
Red Onion Coarsely Chopped, 1
Cherry Tomatoes Quartered, 170g
Tomato Puree, 1 TBSP
Fresh Parsley, A Handful
Fresh Mint, A Handful
Sumac, 1/2 Cup
Roasted Chili Flakes, 1 TSP Adjust To Preference
Smoked Paprika, 1/2 TSP
All Spice Powder, 1/2 TSP
Cumin Powder, 1/2 TSP
Cinnamon Powder, 1/4 TSP
Sea Salt, Pinch
White Pepper, Pinch
Dried Mushroom Powder, Pinch
Ground Chicken Thigh, 150g
Sumac Salad:
Shallots Finely Sliced, 5
Fresh Parsley Coarsely Chopped, A Handful
Fresh Mint Coarsely Chopped, A Handful
Sumac, 1 TBSP
Fresh Lemon Juice, 1/2 Lemon
Lemon Confit, A Pinch
Lahmacun:
Lahmacun Dough Balls, 4
Equipment:
Oven
Blender
Directions:
Pls visit my "How To Make Lemon Confit" page for the recipe.
Pls visit my "How To Make Lahmacun / Pide Dough" page for the recipe.
Prepare the toppings.
In a blender, add all the ingredients, except the ground chicken.
Blitz until smooth.
Add in the ground chicken.
Continue blitzing until smooth paste forms.
*You can use a meat grinder to grind your chicken thigh. You can also use the blender to grind your chicken thigh if you do not own a meat grinder. Grind the chicken thigh 1st, remove from blender, add in the rest of the ingredients, then the ground chicken thigh.*
Transfer into a bowl, cover with cling film.
Set aside chilled in the fridge until ready to use.
Prepare the salad.
In a bowl, toss everything together until well combined.
Set aside in the fridge until ready to use.
Prepare the lahmacun.
Preheat oven to the highest temperature setting.
Preheat a pizza stone an hour beforehand as well.
If you do not have a pizza stone, an inverted baking tray will work just fine.
Once the dough is rolled out into a disc with an 1/8 inch thick, transfer into a skillet over medium heat.
Toast until bottom is crisp brown and lightly charred.
Transfer onto a working surface lined with parchment paper.
Spread the toppings generously evenly over the top leaving an 1/8 inch gap along the edge.
Carefully slide the lahmacun with the parchment paper onto the pizza stone or inverted baking tray.
Wack into the oven using the middle rack.
Bake until the toppings are light charred and the edge is golden brown.
Remove from oven.
Transfer onto serving plate.
Garnish with the sumac salad.
Slice and serve immediately.
Repeat the steps for the remaining lahmacuns.