The other day I was preparing a bean stew (wait, I’m coming to the pizza in a bit) for my family. I am always really cautious when preparing these stews for my kids as I never know if they will enjoy it and subsequently eat it and subsequently be happy or not! I mean my mental health is obviously closely related to this bean stew! So I had to have a second plan in case my first failed. I don’t normally have two dishes prepared for every meal but I have to be honest here…beans are not my favourite either!
In order to not go hungry I decided to make Lahmajoun or else Armenian pizzas. In Cyprus there are a lot of Armenian people so we got to try their cuisine too and these Lahmajoun are really out of this world. They are just bang on full of flavour and healthy too. It’s a basic pizza base topped with minced meat, tomatoes, onions and lots of spices including chilli flakes!! They are best served hot with a squeeze of lemon and lots of chopped parsley. They are ideal for a party, a quick meal or even a back up plan when you are cooking beans!!
If you wan to try this recipe with me then let’s get cooking my darlings!
INGREDIENTS
For the base
3 cups plain flour
8 gr yeast
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
50 ml olive oil
1 cup lukewarm water
For the topping
400 gr minced meat
1 large onion finely chopped
1 big tomato finely chopped
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp chilli flakes or cayenne pepper (optional)
2 tsp paprika
4 tbsp parsley to serve
lemon to serve
INSTRUCTIONS
Step 1
For the dough: Mix together the flour, yeast, sugar, salt, water and oil. Knead together well to form a dough either by hand or with the mixer. Approximately 10 minutes. Once done, let it rest and rise for one hour.
Step 2
Finely ground the minced meat either with a sharp knife by chopping it finely many times or with a food processor. Add in the onion, tomato and spices. Mix well for all to be incorporated.
Step 3
Preheat the oven at 210°C. Add the trays you will be using in the oven and let them get super hot.
Step 4
When the dough is ready shape it in 4 bigger pieces or 6 smaller. The dough will be slightly wet so add flour and roll them out flat.
Step 5
Top each pizza base with the minced meat mixture and spread evenly. Spread it out leaving a small edge uncovered just like an Italian pizza. When they are all ready, remove the trays from the oven and place all the pizzas in the trays.
Step 6
Bake for 25 minutes or until the minced meat is nicely browned.
Step 7
Serve them hot with a squeeze of lemon and a sprinkle of fresh chopped parsley.
♥ You can use any meat you like for this recipe. Traditionally, lamb is used but I don’t really like it’s intense flavour and meatiness so I chose pork.
They can be served with yogurt too or salad.
The base was to die for so I will be using it for my pizzas as well!!
Needless to say my kids loved them -including the bean stew- but of course I toned down the spiciness.
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