25 Days of Christmas: Lahmajun (Armenian Pizza)

[sireesanwar]

My family is of Armenian decent so we make all the recipes my great-grandparents made. And usually around Christmas we break out the Lahmajun which people call Armenian Pizza but it isn't really. It is delicious; however. I was explaining it to my chiropractor who just said, "I give up, give me the recipe." She loved it and has made it several times. So I thought I'd share.

Ingredients
Meat Topping:
1 pound ground lamb, turkey, or beef
1 can (14 ½ oz) tomatoes, peeled, diced, and drained well
2 tablespoons tomato paste
½ red bell pepper, finely chopped
½ green bell pepper, finely chopped
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
¼ teaspoon cayenne
3 cloves fresh pressed garlic
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
Fresh lemon juice

The Dough:
1 package (1/4 oz) active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (about 105 degrees)
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus additional for greasing bowl and backing sheet (or cook them on parchment)
½ teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
2 ¼ cups white break flour, plus additional for rolling

Mix It Up

1. To prepare the dough, dissolve the yeast in water in the bowl of the tabletop mixer. Stir in the 1 tablespoon olive oil, sugar, salt, and 1 ½ cups flour. Mix the dough with a dough hook until smooth, about 3 minutes. Knead in the remaining flour until the dough is smooth and elastic. This will take about 10 minutes by machine, 20 minutes by hand.
2. Shape the dough into a ball and place in a large bowl greased with olive oil. Turn the ball once to coat it completely with oil. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let stand in a warm place for about 1 ½ hours, or until double in size.
3. While waiting for the dough to rise, combine all the topping ingredients together in the bowel of a food processor (or blender) and pulse until just smooth. Set aside.
4. When the dough has doubled in size, turn it out onto a floured work surface and punch it down. Knead the dough into the shape of a log. Cut the log into 12 equal pieces. Then roll each piece out into a 7-inch circle.
5. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
6. Lightly grease 2 to 4 baking sheets with olive oil. Arrange the circles on the prepared baking sheets. Allow the dough to rest and rise slightly, about 15 minutes. Then, spread the meat mixture evenly over the entire surface of each round.
7. Bake in the middle of the over for 25-30 minutes. Cool the pizzas on a wire rack.
8. Serve warm with a splash of fresh lemon juice for a quick lunch.

Freeze well with wax paper between them for quick meals.

Now, I know what you are thinking.. that sounds like a lot of work. You do not have to make the dough. Most of my family does but you could by pitas and spread the meat on them. We've put it on Naan and it is amazing. Thicker break calls for more meat I think because typically the dough we make is really thin. So we have Naan in our freezer and you just mix up the meat and put it on and then cook them.

And I say they aren't like pizza really because there is no excess sauce or cheese or tons of toppings. It is pretty much just this and it is amazing. Honestly, I'd make a burger out of this meat because it is sooo good.

Oh and the image isn't mine... ours never last for pictures so I had to find one. But this looks just like ours.

What is a yummy thing your family likes to make around Christmas?

Days Til Christmas: 13