Lahmejune (Armenian Pizza - Quick Version)

As I mentioned in my Meatball Poppers post the other day, since we ended up having Spaghetti and Meatballs the night I picked up the ground beef for the poppers and used those meatballs rather than making the minis I had intended, we used the ground beef to make Lahmejune the next day instead. Some of you may be familiar with it as Lahmacun or Pide. This is most typically referred to as Armenian Meat Pizza. Whatever you want to call IT, just be sure to call ME when there is any around cuz I can't get enough! Unfortunately, my favorite Lahmejune is found at Massis Bakery and Specialty Store in Watertown, Massachusetts - just outside of Boston. I grew up in MA, so that was very convenient. Now that I live in NY, not so much. :(

You know it's good when you consider the childhood trauma I endured over it. Sniffle, sniffle, sob ... when other kids were trading Bologna sandwiches for their friend's PB&J, I was getting weird looks. LOL. Either that, or someone would dare to take a taste, which would spark someone else to jump in and I'd eventually end up with nothing. I even had teachers eating my lunch back in elementary school. What would Jamie Oliver have to say about that? ;)

I made it from scratch once or twice a million years ago with my Mom, but by the time you get through with everything, knowing that we could so easily get it from Massis back then, it hardly seemed worth the effort. Thanks to George Duran's common sense, we now have a "cheat" version using flour tortillas for the crust. I'm surprised that never occurred to me. For that matter, I'm surprised I never tried it with store-bought pizza dough. Then again, maybe it did occur to me at some point, but I assumed it wouldn't be close enough to the real deal. It was my sister who actually pushed to try this version.

You don't even need a bowl. Just a food processor, a spoon and some elbow room.

INGREDIENTS : (Slightly modified from GD's version.)
2 cloves garlic
1 med onion, roughly chopped
1 sm green bell pepper, roughly chopped
1 lb ground lamb (or beef - pictured with beef)
6 oz tomato paste
14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1/4 c parsley
1 t cumin
1/4 t cayenne pepper
1/2 t allspice
1 t paprika
1/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper
flour tortillas (makes about a dozen)

Pulse the garlic, onion, and bell pepper in the food processor to chop. If they give off a lot of liquid, go ahead and either pour some off, or blot it with a paper towel to soak some up. You don't want the mixture to end up so wet that it steams. Add everything but the tortillas to the bowl and process to a paste-like consistency.

Put a big spoonful in the center of a tortilla and use the back of a spoon to sort of press and spread it toward the edges. It should be just a thin layer, and you want to make sure you get pretty close to the edge because it will shrink up some as it cooks.

Bake at 400 for 8-12" until the topping is cooked and the edges are golden. You want to be careful in placing them in your oven so they don't fall between the racks. If you have a cooling rack that fits in your oven, you might want to bake them on that since the rows are closer together (a little insurance against spills). I like mine any way I can get them - soft, crisp, hot, cold, you name it! If you like your pizza extra crispy around the edges, go ahead and pop the broiler on for a few seconds at the end.

 
People eat these all kinds of ways. Sometimes I'll top them with thin slices of tomato, or add the tomato and melt American Cheese over the top. My sister loves them with String Cheese and Mint. Other people cover them with fresh herbs and roll them into a tube.

I just looked up and noticed the Dunkin Donuts cup in that last picture. I swear this site is NOT sponsored by Dunkin Donuts! LOL. I joke about being a Dunkin Junkie, but judging by the number of pictures I have cropped these cups out of, maybe I really am?? Heck, I even got hit by a car walking to my office a few years back and managed to hang onto my coffee!

 
Once we established that this recipe definitely served to curb our Lahmejune craving between trips to Boston, I started thinking about other "easy" applications. I decided to try an appetizer version replacing the tortillas with layers of biscuit dough. Yup, I resorted to a tube. Peel the biscuits apart into the thinnest layers you can and top with the meat mixture. You definitely need to go all the way out to the edges if you use the biscuit dough because, not only does the meat mixture shrink some as it cooks, but the biscuit dough rises and expands. The first few I baked off looked like bullseyes! If you plan to try this version, be sure to bake them off just before serving. The biscuit dough is definitely best fresh out of the oven. If it sits too long, it loses its light crispy texture.

Pictured here with a mint leaf and crumbled feta. You might want to try a cherry tomato half and string cheese, or some diced orange and yellow bell pepper ...