Editorial: Kockums JernverkPublished: 2026-11-06

Lahmacun – Turkish flatbread with spiced lamb

Name: Lahmacun – Turkish flatbread with spiced lamb
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 1 h 55 min
Cuisine: Turkish
Ingredients: 400 g plain flour; 1 tsp fast-action dried yeast; 1 tsp sugar; 1 tsp salt; 250 ml lukewarm water; 1 tbsp olive oil; 300 g minced lamb; 1 onion; ½ red pepper; 1 tomato; 2 garlic cloves; ½ bunch flat-leaf parsley; 1 tbsp Turkish pepper paste (biber salçası) or tomato purée; 1 tsp ground cumin; 1 tsp paprika; ½ tsp chilli flakes (pul biber); 1 tsp salt; Freshly ground black pepper; ½ bunch flat-leaf parsley; 1 red onion, thinly sliced into rings; 2 tomatoes, sliced; 2 lemons, cut into wedges

Serves 4 · 1 hour 55 minutes · Pizza steel 37 x 32

Thin Turkish flatbreads spread with spiced minced lamb and baked crisp in minutes. The rectangular pizza steel fits two lahmacun at a time and gives a crisp base in a home oven.

Lahmacun is a Turkish flatbread spread with a thin layer of raw spiced mince made from lamb, onion, pepper and tomato, then baked at a very high heat. It is best when the dough is rolled really thin and baked on a well-preheated pizza steel, so the edges crisp while the centre stays soft enough to roll.

Two thin oval lahmacun with spiced lamb topping, parsley, red onion rings and tomato on a rectangular carbon steel pizza steel with upturned lips, lemon wedges beside

Ingredients

Serves 4

Dough

400 g plain flour
1 tsp fast-action dried yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
250 ml lukewarm water
1 tbsp olive oil

Topping

300 g minced lamb
1 onion
½ red pepper
1 tomato
2 garlic cloves
½ bunch flat-leaf parsley
1 tbsp Turkish pepper paste (biber salçası) or tomato purée
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
½ tsp chilli flakes (pul biber)
1 tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper

To serve

½ bunch flat-leaf parsley
1 red onion, thinly sliced into rings
2 tomatoes, sliced
2 lemons, cut into wedges

Method

Mix the flour, yeast, sugar and salt. Add the water and olive oil and knead to a smooth dough, about 5 minutes. Cover with a tea towel and leave to rise for 1 hour.
Put the pizza steel on the second-highest shelf and heat the oven to its maximum, 250–275 °C. Preheat for at least 45 minutes.
Blitz the onion, pepper, deseeded tomato, garlic and parsley finely in a food processor. Mix with the lamb, pepper paste, spices, salt and pepper into an even, spreadable paste.
Divide the dough into 8 pieces and roll each into a very thin oval, about 30 x 15 cm, on a floured surface.
Place two breads on a floured pizza peel and spread a thin layer of topping right to the edges.
Slide them onto the steel and bake for 4–6 minutes until the edges are crisp and the meat is cooked through. Repeat with the rest, letting the steel reheat briefly between batches.
Scatter over parsley, red onion and tomato, squeeze over lemon and roll up.

Why it works

The thin dough needs strong heat from below to crisp before it dries out. A carbon steel pizza steel stores and releases heat quickly, and the upturned lips make it easy to lift the steel out of the oven.