Do you ever watch a TV show or see a movie or read a book, and something they eat just sounds so delicious that you have to have it?
You may not be surprised to hear that this happens to me, like, a lot. For example, the word donut needs only to be whispered within miles of me, and a donut I must have.
So we all know Anthony Bourdain, right? The great culinary anti-hero. That dude’s shows make me want to EAT. I’m struck by a powerful wanderlust, and it often manifests itself in my kitchen. When I have no dime on which to travel, I travel on my stomach.
So, after watching the Istanbul episode of No Reservations and seeing the man himself eating a rolled up piece of lamb covered flatbread out of a wood fired oven – Turkish lahmacun – you know I had to have one.
I can make absolutely no claims as to the authenticity of this recipe. I have never been to Istanbul (BUT I SO WANT TO), and I have no Turkish heritage. I didn’t even follow a reputable recipe, but took ideas from a bunch of different ones.
For your reference, I consulted this recipe by Ottolenghi, one by Nigella Lawson found in How to Be a Domestic Goddess, and one in Tessa Kiros’ Falling Cloudberries.
The configuration I landed on is a kind of mashup between all three, which reflects my personal tastes, and what I had in the house! So it’s spicy, heavy on the sumac, and super easy to put together. The dough is thin and flavoursome, and the lamb topping is rich and cumin-scented. The yoghurt and sumac and parsley on top are all essentially refreshing and sharp. HEAVEN!
Now tell me, coz this is one of my favourite topics of discussion – what have you seen or watched or read that sent you running to the kitchen? I remember everything about the food in what I read – Kerouac’s apple pie, the Beer Milkshake in Cannery Row, Harry Potter’s favourite Treacle Tart, Pizza from the Ninja Turtles (nudge, nudge, Laura). What’s your literary food memory?
xx Sarah.
- 250g flour
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp yeast
- pinch of sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- ⅔ cup (170ml) warm water
- 200g lamb mince
- ½ tomato
- ½ red onion
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp coriander
- ¼ tsp white pepper
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp chopped parsley
- Yoghurt
- Sumac
- Parsley
- Salt
- First, make the dough. Place all the ingredients into the bowl of a mixer fitted with the dough hook and knead for about 5 minutes until the dough is satiny and elastic.
- Cover the bowl with plastic and leave in a warm place for 30 minutes to 1 hour until doubled in size.
- To prepare the topping, simply finely chop all the ingredients and mix them together to form a paste. You can do this by hand or in a processor.
- Once the dough is risen, knock all the air out of it, and then split it into four pieces.
- Preheat the oven to as hot as it will go (around 480F/250C).
- Roll each piece of dough out int a long oblong, and place on a piece of baking paper. Divide the topping equally between the bases, and spread it thinly covering the surface of each, leaving a ½ inch/1cm overhang. Fold over the edges and then bake the pizzas for about 7 minutes each or until lightly golden brown and cooked through.
- Serve dolloped with yoghurt, and generously sprinkled with salt, sumac and parsley leaves.
OH MAN. I need a piece or two of this in my mouth right now. Lamb is the best!
And now you’ve got me wanting this immediately! Looks amazing!!
Totally into this pizza. And the twisty ends! I love sumac, and pretty much anything spicy involving lamb. You’re on a rolL!!
I do that quite literally all the time, See something I have to have then figure out how to make it. Thank God for the internet! So many good recipes out there just waiting to be discovered. This Pizza is amazing. Everything he eats on that show is drool worthy… My biggest food craving was while watching Julie and Julia. Julie is frying bread in butter, slathering it with garlic and topping it with gorgeous tomatoes and basil. Went home immediately and ate myself sick. So Damn good..
I remember that scene…so so good.
What a beautiful looking pizza!
We made these but instead of making the dough into large pieces we divide the dough into small dough balls that you can roll out to about 10-12′, let them rise the same, put on topping and bake, but you can freeze them, using wax paper inbetween them, usually bake off 4-5 dozen then they are ready anytime from the freezer, you just have to warm them up with a nice fresh salad, yummy!!
This recipe is making me hungry! I’m literally salivating!
Everything I see or hear about, I must eat. Is this unusual behavior?
This pizza is gorgeous. Lately, I’ve noticed that all bloggers posting pizza recipes are photographing their pizza in the exact same way. But not you! You’re so creative with your photography, I love it! So original. Keep it comin’ :) :)
I would like this pizza now please! That show makes me STARVING as well, Mr. Bourdain eats some delicious food. Wouldn’t it be nice to have his life??
I do the same thing! Of course, now I can’t think of any examples, but I know there have been lots of times in my life when I’ve thrown a book aside and sprinted for the kitchen. I’m not a lamb eater but I am totally going to adapt this for chicken. (Don’t hate me!)
Turkish delight! My mom had us make some in home school after always wondering what Edmund would sell his family for. It was good but…. not that good, Edmund!
This Turkish pizza sounds great! I have seen it here and there on blogs and am hoping to find a chunk of time to try to myself! Because the flavors are just what I need in my life.
Also, when we used to have television, we would wake up on Saturdays and watch reruns of Man vs Food, and suddenly at 7am find ourselves desperately craving an 8-foot pizza, a four-pound burrito or a 20-egg omlete. It led only to bad decisions.
I had this pizza once (with beef since I don’t like lamb meat)… it’s amazing! I have a lot of turkish friends they have promised me to teach me… but since I’ve found your recipe I don’t need their help anymore!
Yes! I’ve seen that episode of NO Res, and I remember that dish well. You have totally done it justice here…this looks absolutely savory and amazing. Passing this recipe along to my husband, as he’s in charge of all pizza cookery in our house hold :)
As I have Turkish heritage. I can say that your recipe as close as it can be . That reminds me next time I go to turkey I should have some more.
Does it matter what sort of flour you use? Can I use plain flour (all purpose) or something else? Thanks a lot for any advice.
Hi Joanna, plain flour works absolutely fine! I have tested this with both plain and strong bread flour and found no appreciable difference between the two. CHeers,
Sarah