Meat pies or lahmacun as they are called in Turkish are my absolutely my favourite kind of pie! There are two versions you can bake them in the oven or cook top with a frying pan and lid, both ways are delicious, the one on the stove top uses a flat bread recipe, this one that I am sharing is with dough that is baked in the oven.
What you will need:
For dough:
- 2 x 3/4 cups warm water (1 and 1/2 cups)
- 4 cups flour
- 2 1/2 tsp yeast
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- olive oil
In mixing bowl combine yeast sugar and warm water, add in the flour and salt. Start to knead with hook attachment, or knead by hand. Pour in some olive oil to help soften the dough and to help it not get sticky. Continue to knead until dough forms a funnel cloud and is no longer sticking to the sides of bowl. If by hand knead until dough is smooth and firm. Cover with plastic wrap and tea towel, allow to rest for an hour or until doubled.
For filling:
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 tomato
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 1 whole onion chopped
- 1 cup freshly chopped parsley
- 1/2 green bell pepper (or any bell pepper)
- 1/2 or whole jalapeno pepper
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 3-4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup olive oil
Chop all veggies and combine with olive oil, seasonings, salt and diced tomatoes. Allow to rest for at least an hour, trust me it makes a difference, dough is rising at this time so its perfect timing. After the tomato mixture had time to rest and gets nice and juicy add the ground beef, combine well. You can taste for salt if you desire.
To prepare meat pies:
Flour surface well and pull dough to make balls, you will get around 15 balls more or less depending how big you make them.
Have flour handy so you can sprinkle over the balls as your rolling them out as the dough will stick to surface. Roll them into circles or squares, even rectangles work. The thinner you roll the dough out the better, however I have made it with a thicker dough tastes great, but then you cannot easily fold it when eating! Place dough over a greased baking sheet that is lined with parchment paper.
Spoon over meat mixture and spread flat. Bake at 475 for about 20 minutes, check bottom of the pies to make sure its baked (using a flat knife or spatula), when you see golden brown spots its ready. Transfer to platter or another baking sheet. Allow to rest and cover with foil for 5 minutes, it allows them to get soft as they are a bit crunchy when they first come out of the oven. Serve with tomatoes, pickles, peppers, onions. Roll up or fold, serve with fries, ayran (yogurt drink) and you got yourself an amazing dinner!:)
