Beef & Pepper Lahmacun

📝 Ingredients

• 400 g plain flour
• 1 sachet dried yeast (5.5 g) + 240 ml lukewarm water
• 2 tbsp olive oil (1 for the dough, 1 for the topping)
• 400 g minced beef, 15% fat
• 1 red pepper (about 150 g)
• 2 tomatoes (about 120 g each) + 1 tbsp tomato purée
• 1 brown onion (about 120 g) + 2 garlic cloves
• 30 g fresh parsley (20 g for the topping, 10 g for serving)
• 2 tsp sweet paprika + 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 red onion (about 100 g) + ½ lettuce
• 1 lemon
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• 2 mixing bowls
• Rolling pin
• 2 baking trays and baking paper
• Chef's knife
• Chopping board
• Clean tea towel

📖 Steps

1. In the first mixing bowl, mix the flour and 1 tsp salt, then add the yeast. Pour in the lukewarm water (pleasant to the touch, never hot, or the yeast will die) and 1 tbsp oil. Mix with a spoon until it forms a rough ball.
2. Knead for 8 to 10 minutes on the floured work surface, pushing the dough with the heel of your hand and then folding it over, until smooth, supple and no longer sticky. Divide into 8 equal balls, cover with a tea towel and leave to rest for 40 minutes.
3. Make the topping: deseed the pepper and tomatoes, then cut the pepper, tomatoes and brown onion into tiny 3 to 5 mm dice. Chop the garlic and 20 g of the parsley. Fine pieces are essential for a topping that cooks quickly.
4. In the second mixing bowl, knead the raw beef by hand with the vegetables, garlic, parsley, tomato purée, paprika, cumin, 1 tbsp oil, 1 tsp salt and some pepper until evenly combined. Discard any juice that collects at the bottom.
5. Preheat the oven to its highest setting (at least 250 °C) with both baking trays inside, for at least 15 minutes: a scorching hot tray gives a flatbread that's crisp underneath. Cut 8 rectangles of baking paper of about 30 × 20 cm.
6. Roll each ball out on the floured surface into a very thin oval of about 25 × 15 cm, 1 to 2 mm thick. Place it on a rectangle of baking paper and cover with an eighth of the topping in a thin layer right to the edges, pressing it down with your fingertips.
7. Using the board, slide 2 lahmacuns onto each hot tray, paper and all. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes, swapping the trays halfway through, until the edges are golden and the meat is cooked, with no trace of pink. If the topping is too thick, it will stew and make the dough soggy.
8. Stack the cooked lahmacuns under a tea towel while the second batch bakes: they soften and roll up without cracking. Meanwhile, thinly slice the red onion, shred the lettuce and cut the lemon into wedges.
9. Serve 2 lahmacuns per person: top each one with lettuce, red onion and the remaining parsley, squeeze over a little lemon, then roll up tightly and eat with your hands, as on the streets of Istanbul.