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  • f you’re a fan of Italian-style pizza, you’re sure to love its Turkish cousins, pide(PEE’-deh) and lahmacun (LAH’-MAH’-juhn). Pide is most similar to pizza, as it’s topped with cheese and other selected toppings.
    Lahmacun is considered a Turkish street food. It has much thinner dough and doesn’t use cheese in the topping. Lahmacun is usually rolled or folded before eating.
  Lahmacun is orginally from the southeastern part of Turkey famous for it’s spicy kebabs and other meat dishes. It's a good example of Turkish regional cuisine. You can find this tasty, spicy treat all over the country in restaurants, cafes and fast food chain restaurants that specialize in lahmacun.

Many home cooks also successfully prepare lahmacun at home using their own mixture of Turkish spices and fresh ingredients.

Here is an easy recipe for homemade lahmacun. If you are short on time, you can pass on making the dough yourself by substituting it with a package of fresh, ready-made pizza dough. Then, use the recipe starting at Step 4. 

Ingredients

For the Dough:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon yeast (instant dry)
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup water (warm)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• For the Topping:
• 12 ounces (350 grams) ground beef (70% lean)
• 1 onion (yellow, finely grated)
• 3 to 4 cloves garlic (finely grated)
• 1 cup parsley (Italian variety, leaves, finely chopped)
• 2 tomatoes (ripe, finely grated)
• 1/2 bell pepper (green, finely grated)
• 1 tablespoon red pepper paste
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon cumin (powder)
• Garnish: lemon wedges, sprigs of Italian parsley, sliced red onion mixed with sumac, sliced tomato
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