Turkish Pizza - Lahmacun

I've never been out of the country. Okay, I lie, kinda. I was conceived in Germany but my mom came back to the states when she was like 6ish months pregnant so I don't know as if you can really count being a fetus in Germany as being out of the country (she might've visited Italy around that time too, but I don't think that counts either). So to make up for the lack in my world travels, I like to try food from other countries, or as close to them as I can get with my picky eaters. 

Welcome to Turkey and Lahmacun (Turkish Pizza). Well sorta. I cheated and used extra thin corn tortillas as the base for this delicious ground beef dish instead of a crispy flat bread mostly because I knew my stomach could handle the corn tortilla and I wasn't sure about the traditional bread (I still struggle with bread). It's also supposed to be a spicy dish with cayenne pepper and crushed red peppers but as I'm a pansy mouth these days with pansy mouthed kids I morphed the recipe to fit our taste (and tummy) needs. So I'm not sure how much like true Lahmacun it is, as I've never been to Turkey nor eaten at a Turkish restaurant, but it was seriously delicious and those who eat in my family ate it with little piggy snorting noises. So that's enough like it for me.

I was surprised by how much 4ft liked it as it's filled with tomatoes, onions, and sweet peppers (all of which 4ft swears he hates -- so once again I performed magic, according to him). I figured my husband would like it because it's basically a salsa, sans jalapeno and nasty cilantro, mixed together with ground beef and spices. Top it with a squeeze of lemon, some light sour cream, and shredded lettuce and it's a complete meal. I ate the entire thing and had zero tummy problems over it.

Turkish Pizza - Lahmacun

Ingredients

2 Roma tomatoes

3 mini sweet peppers - red, yellow, orange

1/2 medium-sized yellow onion

1/4 cup fresh parsley

8 oz 93/7 lean ground beef

1/4 tsp crushed red peppers

2 TBS minced garlic

1 TBS tomato paste

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp cumin

1/8 tsp black pepper

6 extra thin small corn tortillas

Directions

1.) Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit

2.) Rough chop tomatoes, sweet peppers, onion, and parsley and then toss it into a blender or food processor and chop it til it's the consistency of salsa. Then pour mixture into a fine mesh strainer to drain all the excess juice.

3.) In a large skillet, over medium-high heat, brown ground beef with crushed red pepper. 

4.) When browned, turn heat to medium-low, and add tomato mixture, garlic, tomato paste, salt, paprika, cumin, and black pepper. Stir well and heat through.

5.) Line baking sheets with foil and place the 6 corn tortillas on them. Evenly divide the meat mixture between the tortillas (about 1/4 cup a tortilla) and spread out -- leaving about a half-inch circle uncovered around the edges.

6.) Bake at 425 for 10 - 15 minutes for the tortillas to brown and get crunchy.

7.) Serve with a sprinkle of shredded cheese, squeeze of lemon juice, sour cream and shredded lettuce.

Nutritional Info per Lahmacun (makes 6 pizzas)

Calories: 127

Protein: 10

Fat: 4

Carbs: 15

Sugar: 5