Lahmacun

I always like to try something different so when I saw this middle eastern pizza style dish I know I had to try it...and wow I'm glad I did, it was fantastic and such a wonderful change from your normal style pizza which I must say I'm not the biggest fan of. The enriched dough with the fragrant and spiced minced meat topping with a cooling salad and yoghurt is perfect :) and my three year old absolutely loved it so perfect for kids too :)

Lahmacun
Middle Eastern pizza with spicy minced beef and a salad topping

Makes 2 large or 4 small snack size pizzas

Dough
250g strong white bread flour
½ tbsp salt
2 tsp fast-action dried yeast
½ tbsp caster sugar
60ml sunflower oil
1 medium egg
100ml lukewarm water

Topping
250g minced beef
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1¼ tsp salt
1½ tsp ground cinnamon
1½ tsp ground allspice
½ tsp red chilli flakes
25g flat leaf parsley, chopped
1½ tbsp sumac

3 tbsp tahini paste
25g pine nuts


Olive oil for brushing
Salad (optional)
1 mini-cucumber cut into cubes
2 small tomatoes cut into cubes
10g coriander, roughly chopped
Feta cheese cut into cubes
Yoghurt with fresh mint and parsley roughly chopped and mixed in

Salt and black pepper

Start with the dough. Put the flour, salt, yeast and sugar in a large mixing bowl and stir well to combine. Make a well in the centre. Add the sunflower oil and egg and stir as you add the water. When the dough comes together, remove it from the bowl and knead lightly for 3 minutes on your work surface until smooth, and elastic. Oil a bowl lightly and place the dough inside, brush with some olive oil, cover with cling film and leave somewhere warm for about 2 hours, until almost doubled in size.
Put all of the topping ingredients in a large bowl, apart from the tahini, and pine nuts. Mix well with your hands and pop in the fridge.
Preheat the oven to 210°C/200c and line two large baking sheets with baking parchment.
Divide the risen dough two balls, and roll each into a thin disc, about 2mm thick. Cover and leave to rise for 15 minutes.

If you make the salad, mix together the vegetables and add the coriander, olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste Stir gently and set aside.

Spread the tahini onto each disc, divide the filling between the dough and spread it evenly so it covers the dough fully. Sprinkle over the pine nuts and place in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until just cooked. You want to make sure the dough is just baked, not over-baked; the topping can be slightly pink inside and the pastry golden when you look underneath. Remove from the oven, spoon the salad on top, and finish off with a little of the yoghurt

Adapted from a recipe by yotam ottolenghi