Few Turkish foods pack as much flavour into such a simple package as lahmacun. Often described as "Turkish pizza," it's actually quite different: an extremely thin round of dough topped with a finely minced mixture of meat, tomatoes, peppers, herbs and spices, baked until crisp around the edges.
Across Turkey, lahmacun is a popular quick lunch, evening meal, or street-food favourite. The traditional way to eat it is to add fresh parsley, onion, and a generous squeeze of lemon before rolling it up.
Ingredients
For the dough
- 500g plain flour
- 7g dried yeast
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 300ml warm water
- 2 tbsp olive oil
For the topping
- 400g minced lamb or beef
- 2 tomatoes, finely chopped
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 red pepper
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- Handful of parsley
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp chilli flakes
- Salt and black pepper
How to Make Lahmacun
- Mix the flour, yeast, sugar and salt, then gradually add the warm water and olive oil.
- Knead until smooth and leave covered for approximately one hour.
- Blend or very finely chop the vegetables, then combine them with the minced meat, tomato paste, parsley and spices.
- Divide the dough into small balls and roll each one extremely thin. Spread a light layer of the meat mixture right to the edges.
- Bake in a very hot oven at around 240°C for approximately 7–10 minutes.
How to Serve It
Top your freshly baked lahmacun with parsley, sliced red onion and lemon juice. Roll it up and eat it while it's still hot.
Tip: serve it with cold ayran for a classic Turkish combination.
