Рецепт Turkish Lamb Pita Pizzas
Need I tell you, we didn’t have lamb
for Easter. Instead we had one of our
glorious whole, bone-in hams, with a side of Kielbasa. As much as we enjoyed our feast, I had
lamb on my mind when we came back to the city.
A couple of weeks ago, I’d found a recipe for Lamb Pizza. Pizza, I need not tell you, has pretty well
taken over the world. And apparently
Turkey is no exception. This particular
pizza is the work of a woman named Semsa Denizsel who owns a take-out food shop
and restaurant in Istanbul called Kantin. Chef Denizsel is no stranger to Food and Wine
Magazine, which is where I encountered her recipe. She’s provided them with
four of her recipes so far. I am sure
there are more coming as Ms. Denizsel is acquiring a reputation as an authority
on Turkish Cuisine. Kantin is located in Istanbul’s poshest neighborhood. Now 13 years old, the focus of the food there
is simple, honest and homemade. The Chef
is a complete locavore and a seasonal cook.
So even when something like eggplant floods the markets of Istanbul, if
it isn’t locally grown or in season you won’t find it at Kantin. What you will find
is inventive cooking like these lamb pizzas spiced with red pepper and
sweetened with sun-dried tomatoes.
Topped with an egg and baked in a hot oven, they’re elevate a simple
week night supper into an adventure.
Note the crust on
Chef Denizsel's Version
Chef Denizsel makes her own crust with
a simple whole wheat dough. I took one
look at it and realized it looked awfully familiar. So instead of doing any
baking, I took whole wheat pitas that you can find pretty well everywhere,
halved them and put the Chefs lamb topping onto them, cracked an egg over each
one and after 7 minutes in the oven, they were done. And they were delicious. I wish I could have stuck completely to the
recipe and found the Turkish Red Pepper Paste called Biber Salcasi but the recommended stand-in hot cherry peppers are a
staple in our fridge. Chopped into a
tiny dice with the sun-dried tomatoes, their flecks of red greatly enhanced the
look of the ground lamb. The egg is the
icing on the cake. It’s not only pretty
but oozing over the lamb mixture, it’s an unctuous pleasure.
Chef Semsa Denizsel
Confession time: This was the second time I’ve made these. But
that version didn’t get into the blog.
The reason was this: Often, when the number of portions is given as 4, I
don’t completely half the recipe. I cut back but I’m more likely to make the
whole thing and put the leftovers in the fridge for lunch. Here, I made the whole recipe for the
topping, and then, overwhelmed by how wonderfully it smelled and looked, loaded
it onto the Pita. Quite honestly, it was
just too much. It really needed to be the recommended portion or ¼ of the
topping for each pizza. Keeping that in mind, here’s the recipe for four Pita
Pizzas.
* To make
- it easy to slice the Pitas in half, first microwave them for 30 seconds. They will puff up and be easier to divide
- into halves. Use the half that has ‘sides’. That will keep the lamb filling in
- place. Reserve the others – toasted, they
- make marvelous crisps for hummus or any other cocktail spread
- 1 tablespoon
- extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing
- 1 small onion, finely
- chopped
- 1 pound ground lamb or
- beef
- 1/4 cup chopped drained
- oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon Turkish red
- pepper paste (Biber Salcasi)
- or 2 jarred hot cherry
- peppers, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon ground
- cumin
- 2 tablespoons flat-leaf
- parsley leaves
- In a skillet, heat the 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
- Add the onion and cook over moderate heat until translucent, 4 minutes. Add the
- lamb and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook over moderately high
- heat, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon, until the lamb is no longer
- pink, 3 minutes. Add the sun-dried tomatoes, red pepper paste and cumin and
- cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and season with salt and
pepper.
Preheat the oven to 450°. Arrange oven racks on the top and bottom
thirds of the oven. Preheat a large rimmed baking sheet in the oven for about 5
minutes.
Spread the lamb topping over the pita halves, leaving a 1/2-inch
border around the edges; Crack an egg in the
center of each pizza (if using) and bake on the top shelf of the oven for about
7 minutes, until the crust is crisp on the bottom, the egg white is firm and
the yolk is runny. Scatter the parsley over the pizzas and serve hot.