Lahmacun (Turkish Flatbread with Spiced Minced Meat)

La storia di questo piatto

Lahmacun belongs to the bread-and-fire culture of Turkey's southeast, where a thin round of dough, spiced lamb or beef and a squeeze of lemon make a meal that needs no ceremony. It is street food and family table at once, the kind of dish people carry home still warm, folded and fragrant.

Ingredienti

• 300 g Soft wheat flour
• 180 ml Lukewarm water
• 10 g Fresh baker's yeast
• 3 g Sugar
• 5 g Salt (dough)
• 20 ml Olive oil
• 350 g Minced lamb or beef
• 200 g White onion
• 50 g Fresh parsley
• 100 g Fresh tomato
• 1 tablespoon Tomato or pepper paste (biber salçası)
• 3 cloves Garlic
• 1 teaspoon Cumin
• 1 teaspoon Sweet paprika
• 0.5 teaspoon Aleppo pepper
• 0.5 teaspoon Ground black pepper
• 5 g Salt (filling)
• 2 pieces Fresh lemons
• 150 g Mixed fresh salad

Preparazione

1. Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water with the sugar and let it rest for a few minutes: when the surface becomes covered with a light foam, you know it is alive and ready to work. In a bowl combine flour and salt, then pour in the oil and the dissolved yeast, and knead vigorously until the mixture becomes soft, smooth and elastic under your hands, no longer sticking to your fingers.
2. Cover the dough with a clean cloth and set it to rest in a warm place, perhaps inside the turned-off oven with only the light on. The secret is not to open it and peek too often: leave it undisturbed for about 50 minutes and you will see it double in size, becoming puffy and soft like a cloud.
3. While the dough rests, prepare the filling: finely chop onion, garlic and tomato until you obtain an almost smooth paste, then put the mixture in a sieve and squeeze it well to remove excess liquid, otherwise the base will remain soggy. Add it to the minced meat together with the chopped parsley, the tomato paste, the spices (cumin, sweet paprika, Aleppo pepper and black pepper) and 5 g of salt. Mix thoroughly, taste a pinch of the mixture cooked in a pan if you like, and adjust the salt: a well-seasoned filling is the secret of an unforgettable lahmacun.
4. Turn the oven to its maximum, 240°C, with a baking tray or a refractory stone inside to heat well. Divide the risen dough into 8 equal pieces, shape them into balls and let them rest covered for 10 minutes so the gluten relaxes and the dough doesn't shrink while rolling. Then roll out each ball, with lightly floured hands and a rolling pin, into a very thin disc about 20 centimetres across: the thinner it is, the crispier it will become in baking.
5. Using the back of a spoon or your fingers, spread the meat mixture over each disc in a very thin and even layer (about 40 g per disc), stopping one centimetre from the edge. Don't overdo the filling: the lahmacun must stay light, so the base bakes well and remains crisp instead of becoming soft.
6. Transfer the discs onto the hot tray or stone (if you rolled them on baking paper, peel the paper off as soon as the disc is placed, since it cannot withstand 240°C) and bake 2 or 3 lahmacun at a time for 5-6 minutes per batch. They are ready when the edges puff slightly and take on a nice golden colour, the meat shows no trace of pink, and the base, when gently touched, is crisp and no longer soggy. Keep the already baked ones warm covered with a kitchen towel.
7. Serve the lahmacun at the table right away, while still hot. Prepare the salad with fresh leaves, some thinly sliced onion, parsley and, if you like, a spoonful of sumac. Lay the salad on each lahmacun, squeeze a wedge of lemon over it and roll it up with your hands: you will taste the contrast between the warm, crispy base, the freshness of the salad and the acidity of the lemon, a small miracle of flavours.