Turkish-Style Lamb Pizza

The challenge

Obtaining a proper flatbread pizza crust.

The convention

Either making a traditional pizza crust or finding not-very-good shortcuts using tortillas, pita bread, or naan.

The quickie

Manipulating lavash.

We had long been interested in developing a recipe for pizza topped with Turkish-inspired ingredients: cinnamon-spiced ground lamb, onion, tomatoes, feta cheese, and pine nuts. The problem was always the crust. The doughy, labor-intensive pizza crusts we were used to didn’t seem to jibe with either our desired flavor profile or workload. We knew our crust needed to be crisp, quick, sturdy, and painless, but we were striking out with the usual suspects: tortillas, pita bread, naan, etc.

We finally found our solution right under our noses. Lavash, a flatbread that is commonly used in Middle Eastern cuisine, is made from a basic combination of flour, water, and salt. Flexible like a tortilla when fresh, it quickly becomes brittle and crisp when heated, making it the perfect base for our pizza.

HOW THIS QUICKIE WORKS

• Lavash is brushed with olive oil and baked for about 5 minutes or until it turns golden
• Meanwhile, the lamb and the tomatoes for the topping are cooked on the stovetop
• The pizza is assembled, then placed in the oven until warmed through

HOW THIS QUICKIE COOKS UP

When the pizzas are done, we season the topping with cinnamon, garlic, and onion for depth, while some red pepper flakes create a little spicy heat. We sprinkle on the feta and the pine nuts, and dinner is served. The pizza both looks and tastes fantastic, but our real accomplishment lies in uncovering the power of the lavash; we had turned an often-overlooked store-bought ingredient into the ideal pizza crust. Best of all, it’s beyond easy to do.