Lebanese lamb pizza

A little while back I received a delivery I'd been dying to get my hands on ever since I heard about the publishing deal: the first ever cook book by a fellow blogger, specialized in street food and making junk food the right, better, way. And oh, how it filled me with jealousy joy.

Having followed Jenni's blog ever since I first became aware there were such things as blogs out there, I did expect the book to be good. But I had no idea it'd be this good. As usual, the review can be found (in Finnish, again) at ruoka.fi- portal. 

In a bid to show I (along with my 21,5 square metres) can adapt and accommodate new things and people (and their three guitars...) in my life, I let The Boy Next Door go over the book with a fresh, objective eyes and choose the test recipe. And this is what he went for.

I have already earmarked several other recipes for the future. At least Asian sticky meatballs just sound too good to pass!

This recipe for Lebanese lamb pizza has generated some serious interest in the Finnish blogosphere, too, and is so convenient in that the ingredients it calls for are such staples in our kitchen we always have them around.

Oh, and yes, the base really is yeast-free and takes practically no time to make!

Serves 4

Yogurt pizza dough:

300 g Greek yogurt
2 eggs
0,5 tsp salt
6 dl all purpose flour

more flour for kneading

Combine the ingredients either mixing with your hands or a machine. With the help of flour, form a ball, wrap it in cling film and let rest in the fridge for half an hour. Roll into thin pizzas (you'll need quite a bit flour to keep them from breaking!) on a floured surface. For the crispest result pre-heat a pizza stone or oven tray at 220°. Bake the yogurt base at the lower part of the oven for a little bit longer than the average one - about 10,15 minutes.

Lebanese lamb pizza:

1 portion of yogurt pizza base

400 g lamb mince
2 mild chillis
3 tbsp tomato concentrate
3 garlic cloves
1 red onion
2 tomatos
2 tsp pimiento powder (smoked paprika)
pinch of allspice
salt
pepper
fresh flat-leaf parsley
oil for frying

to serve:
flat-leaf parsley
Greek yogurt
1 pomegranate

Heat some oil in a pan and sauté finely chopped garlic, chillis and onion. Add lamb mince and season.

Finally add diced tomatos and parsley.

Spread the mince mixture on the pizzas, bake at 220° for about 10 minutes and then 2 minutes under a broiler.

Serve with Greek yogurt and pomegranate seeds.

And mamma mia, this was delish! The crust gets nice and crisp still retaining a lovely chewiness. Greek yogurt lends it a nice tartness which works beautifully with the flavours of the mince mixture. The result is like nothing I've ever eaten on my own travels in Middle East, yet something that tastes so familiar, capturing the tastes so well. Oh, and a pizza we'll be making over and over again!

In a bid to demonstrate some level of discipline I only made 1/2 portion to feed the two of us. Do not do that. Sense (and sensibility) finally got the better of me but I did almost call The Boy Next Door to tell him to stay at work just so I could finish them both...!

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ANYONE FOR SECONDS?