There are a few Middle Eastern dishes I grew up with that were staples in our house. One of them was Lahmajun; an Armenian/Turkish pizza of sorts. Traditionally made with ground lamb or beef and served with lemon wedges, it is something that we not only ate often, but something I really enjoyed. If you have not had Lahmajun before, you should give it a try. If you have had it, and like me thought it was something you would not experience again, give this a whirl; if the Lahmujan you ate was anything like what I did, this will not disappoint!

Lahmajun: Armenian/Turkish Pizza [Vegan]

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Ingredients

Dough
  • 5 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups non dairy milk
  • 3 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp organic unbleached sugar
  • 2 tsp active dry yeast
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • Cooking oil spray
Topping
  • 1 lb frozen soy crumbles, thawed
  • 1 red pepper, seeded, veined and cut into chunks
  • 1/2 green pepper, seeded, veined and cut into chunks
  • 1/2 medium onion, peeled and cut into chunks
  • 2 tomatoes, cut into chunks
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 handful parsley (about a cup)
  • 1 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • Corn meal
  • Lemon wedges
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Preparation

Dough
  1. Put all ingredients into a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment.
  2. Turn on low and allow to run for five or six minutes until all ingredients form a loose ball.
  3. The dough may be a bit crumbly, that is OK.
  4. Remove from the stand mixer, form into a ball, place into a bowl spray lightly with cooking oil spray and cover with plastic wrap.  Allow to sit for two hours.
Filling
  1. While the dough is resting, place the peppers, onions, tomatoes, onion, tomato paste, parsley, cumin, olive oil and paprika into a food processor.  Pulse to combine into a paste.  Place in a bowl.
  2. Put the thawed soy crumbles into the emptied food processor bowl.  Pulse until finely crumbled.
  3. Add to the bowl with the vegetable paste ad using your hands combine  until well incorporated.
Lahmajun
  1. When the dough is finished resting preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place a pizza stone or baking sheet dusted in corn meal in the oven  Beak off a piece ad roll into a ball. Flatten into a circle on a floured surface and roll into a very thin circle. The dough should be cracker thin- no more than a quarter inch deep. You can make them as large or small as you want in circumference; I made mine about the size of a personal pan pizza.
  2. Place enough filling on top of the disc to create a thin layer on top.  Place on the pizza stone and cook until crispy, about 7  minutes.
  3. Squeeze fresh lemon juice on warm Lahmajun before eating.
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