Recipe
Lahmacun
Paper-thin Turkish flatbread with a spiced minced meat and vegetable topping, blasted in a screaming-hot oven until the edges blister. Rolled up with parsley and a squeeze of lemon - no knife and fork allowed.
Lahmacun takes about 70 minutes and makes 4 servings. Each serving has 641 kcal.
- Preparation
- 45 minutes
- Cooking
- 25 minutes
- Total time
- 70 minutes
- Servings
- 4
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 641 kcal
- Protein
- 31 g
- Carbohydrates
- 84 g
- Fat
- 19.5 g
Ingredients
- All-purpose flour400 g
- Dried yeast1 tsp
- Warm water250 ml
- Salt1 tsp
- Ground beef250 g
- Ground lamb100 g
- Onion1 pc
- Red bell pepper1 pc
- Tomatoes2 pcs
- Tomato paste1 tbsp
- Parsley30 g
- Pul biber (Turkish chili flakes)1 tsp
- Ground cumin1 tsp
- Sweet paprika1 tsp
- Lemon1 pc
Instructions
- 1
Put a baking steel or stone on the top rack and preheat the oven at maximum temperature (250–300 °C) for a full 45 minutes.
- 2
Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water and let it sit for a few minutes until it smells yeasty.
- 3
Knead the flour, salt and yeast water into a soft, smooth dough, a good 8 minutes by hand.
- 4
Cover the dough and let it rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
- 5
Meanwhile chop the onion, pepper, tomatoes and parsley very finely, drain off excess juice, and knead them with the meat, tomato paste, spices and salt into a spreadable topping.
Tip: Chop by hand or pulse very briefly - a blender purées the vegetables and the watery paste will soak through the thin dough.
- 6
Divide the dough into 8 balls, cover and let them relax for 15 minutes.
- 7
Roll each ball on a floured surface into a paper-thin oval - you should almost see the counter through it.
- 8
Spread a thin layer of topping right to the edges, pressing it gently into the dough.
Tip: Thin is the whole secret - a thick meat layer stays raw in the middle while the bread burns. You should see dough through the topping in places.
- 9
Slide one lahmacun at a time onto the hot steel and bake 4–6 minutes, until the edges blister and char in spots.
- 10
Serve hot: pile on parsley, squeeze over lemon, roll it up and eat from the hand.
Cooking methods
On the stove
The oven does the real work here; the stove is only a backup. In a pinch, cook lahmacun in a dry, screaming-hot cast-iron pan with a lid - 3 minutes covered so the topping cooks from the trapped heat.
On induction
For the pan method, preheat a dry cast-iron pan on level 9, then cook each lahmacun on 8 with the lid on. Induction keeps the pan floor consistently hot, which mimics the stone surprisingly well.
Over an open fire
Lahmacun was born in wood-fired ovens, so fire suits it: lay a flat stone or steel plate over strong embers, let it heat thoroughly, and bake directly on it. Rotate often - ember heat is never even.
Recipe questions
- How long does this recipe take?
- Plan for about 70 minutes from start to finish.
- How many servings does this recipe make?
- This recipe makes 4 servings.
- Can I cook this recipe on induction?
- Yes. For the pan method, preheat a dry cast-iron pan on level 9, then cook each lahmacun on 8 with the lid on. Induction keeps the pan floor consistently hot, which mimics the stone surprisingly well.
- Can I cook this recipe over an open fire?
- Yes. Lahmacun was born in wood-fired ovens, so fire suits it: lay a flat stone or steel plate over strong embers, let it heat thoroughly, and bake directly on it. Rotate often - ember heat is never even.
In the app
Cooking the way it should feel
One step on screen, a timer that keeps going, and clear progress until the dish is done.
