Lebanon’s take on pizza, but with spiced lamb, pomegranate molasses and crisp, chewy dough. Big flavour, easy dough, and cooks in minutes. Fire up the pizza oven (or cook in the oven) and get stuck in.
Category
Lunch
Servings
4
Prep time
2 hours 30 minutes
Cook time
20 minutes
Lebanon’s take on pizza, but with spiced lamb, pomegranate molasses and crisp, chewy dough. Big flavour, easy dough, and cooks in minutes. Fire up the pizza oven (or cook in the oven) and get stuck in.
Ingredients
- 400g (2⅔ cups) bread flour
- 7g (2¼ tsp) dry yeast
- 1½ tsp fine sea salt
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- 20ml (1 tbsp) olive oil
- 250ml (to 290ml) lukewarm water
- 400g lamb mince
- 2 shallots, finely grated
- 2 cloves garlic, finely grated
- 1 tsp sumac
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- ½ tsp dried mint
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp Aleppo pepper
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tsp pomegranate molasses
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- chopped mint leaves and lemon wedges, to serve
Directions
Make the dough
Combine the flour, sugar, yeast and water in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook.
- Mix on low until it just comes together, then add the salt and oil. Continue to mix on low until it comes together.
- Increase speed to medium low and knead for 8-10 minutes, until you have a smooth texture.
- Place the dough in an oiled bowl, turning to coat, then cover with a tea towel and set aside in a warm draft free place for 2 hours, or until doubled in size.
Prep the topping
Combine the mince, shallots and garlic in a large bowl. Mix in the sumac, paprika, thyme, cumin, aleppo, tomato paste and pomegranate molasses.
- Knead mixture until very well combined. Season with salt.
Shape the dough
Transfer the dough to a clean work surface lightly dusted with flour. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces.
- Stretch each ball out to a very thin circle, roughly 20 (8 in) in diameter.
- Spread the mince mixture thinly and evenly over the dough, leaving a 1cm border.
Cook and serve
Preheat a pizza oven to 350°C (660°F).
- Slide a manoush onto a pizza peel and bake for 90 seconds to 2 minutes, turning occasionally for even cooking, aiming for a crispy bottom and golden topping.
- Keep warm while you continue to cook the remaining manoush. Sprinkle over some mint and serve with lemon wedges.
Recipe notes
Cook support
When pressing out the dough balls the aim is to only use just enough flour to not have it stick to the bench or pizza peel. Once on the peel, stretch out the edges and keep moving it a little before you place it in the oven, and always use swift movements with the peel.
Sourcing
Good quality lamb mince from your butcher will have enough fat in it to keep it from drying out when cooking and you won’t need to brush oil on the manoush before adding the topping.
Substitutions
Aleppo pepper is available from good quality green grocers and specialty food stores, but if you can’t find it then substitute some cayenne pepper with a little paprika.
Storage
This is best eaten straight after cooking.
Serving ideas
You could add some extra herbs and fresh pomegranate arils with a drizzle of yoghurt if you like.
Oven method
To cook this in the oven, heat a pizza stone or cast iron baking pan in an oven on its maximum temperature (around 240°C /465°F) and bake for 6-10 minutes, until golden brown and crisp.
