Lahmacun

I have tried many dough recipes to recreate the Lahmacun we have when in Turkey, but with no great success. I have decided that the ordinary home ovens are the reason we cannot duplicate them at home. However, I decided to experiment using a tortilla wrap, after yet another unsuccessful try and I must say that this is a pretty good substitute and not only that, a lot quicker too. Hooray!

The secret of the topping is that everything should be very finely chopped. If you have a mini chopper you can do this easily. Also the mixture should be quite slack.

Place the roughly chopped onion, bell pepper and chilli pepper in the chopper and pulse until you can see everything is very finely chopped but not pulped.

Place the minced lamb in a bowl and add the olive oil, tomato and red pepper purées, chopped tomato, finely chopped parsley and paprika. Finally, add the chopped onions and peppers. Season and mix together well. Add a little water to loosen up the mixture, if necessary.

Take a tortilla wrap and using your hands spread and pat some of the topping all over, right up to the edges. Repeat with the remaining tortillas. Sprinkle with chilli flakes if you like them acılı (hot!).

Place on a greased baking sheet. Depending on your oven and how many baking sheets you have, you may have to bake these in batches.

Bake for about 15 minutes, until you can see the meat is cooked and the edges, lightly browned.

They will be quite crisp when first out of the oven, so place on a plate and cover with a large lid or a clean tea towel.

If you like them softer, however, make up a batch of them and then reheat in the microwave.

Serve with a wedge of lemon and either eat as they are or roll up and enjoy!

Realy good with a glass of chilled Ayran.