Lachmajou (Middle-Eastern Lamb Dish)

Wendy-Bob's Note:

I made this for dinner the other night and it was delicious (although my picky other half didn't like it). The full recipe (as listed) consists of a bread-like base and then the lamb topping, but I just make the lamb part and serve it with Simple Naan / Flatbread (Plain), because I can never be bothered with anything involving yeast (lazy!).

• Total Time: 50 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 2

For the bread

• 25 g fresh yeast
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 500 g bread flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 20 g butter (melted)

For the lamb topping

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 red onion
• 500 g lean ground lamb
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 15 g flat leaf parsley (chopped)
• 120 g canned tomatoes (chopped or pureed)
• 1 lemon, juice of
• chili flakes

Directions:

1. For the bread:.
2. Crumble the yeast into a bowl, sprinkle with the sugar and add 310ml (1 1/4 cups) tepid water.
3. Leave for 10-15 minutes until the yeast begins to activate.
4. Mix in the flour, salt and butter and mix well.
5. Turn out onto a well floured work surface and knead well until the dough is smooth and elastic.
6. Leave in a warm place for approximately 1.5 hrs to rise.
7. For the lamb topping:.
8. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan and cook the onion for approximately 5 minutes until softened.
9. Add the lamb, cinnamon and most of the parsley, and season well with salt and pepper (you'll need to season it quite a lot).
10. Cook for approx 10 minutes until most of the moisture has evaporated, remove from the heat and stir in the tomato.
11. Preheat your oven to 220c.
12. Back to the bread:.
13. Knock down the dough by punching out all of the air to bring it back to its original size.
14. Divide into 14 balls (less if you prefer) and keep them well covered to ensure they don't dry out.
15. On a well floured surface, roll to dough balls to approximately 1-2mm thick and 12-15cm in diameter.
16. Arrange on a lightly floured baking try.
17. Cover each disk of dough with just more than 1 heaped tablespoon of mixture, ensuring you leave a thin border around the edge.
18. Drizzle approximately 1tsp of olive oil over each one and bake for 10 minutes or until the dough is cooked but has not dried out.
19. Serve immediately sprinkled with the remaining parsley and chili flakes (to taste).