My uncle is well-known for making this dish, but he has never recorded the recipe. I think I’ve gotten as near as I can after years of trial and error! Be a little looser with the spice measurements; instead, flavor as you go according to your personal preferences. With a dollop of plain yogurt on top, these pizzas are fantastic to store in the fridge overnight and grab for a quick lunch the next day!
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 50 mins |
| Servings: | 3 |
| Yield: | 6 pizzas |
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground lamb
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ cup chopped red onion
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ green bell pepper, chopped
- 1 tablespoon freshly ground cumin seed
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 pinch fenugreek seeds, finely crushed (Optional)
- 1 lemon wedge
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 1 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 6 (6 inch) pita bread rounds
- ⅓ cup crumbled feta cheese (Optional)
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Season lamb with salt and pepper, and set aside.
- Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, and bell pepper and stir until just beginning to brown. Stir in the cumin, turmeric, paprika, and fenugreek.
- Immediately add the ground lamb. Squeeze lemon wedge over lamb, and drop the peel into the mixture. Break up the meat and stir until it has browned. Remove lemon peel.
- Stir in the tomatoes, ketchup, and parsley. Continue to simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated, 10 to 15 minutes. The mixture should be spreadable but not too wet or the pitas will become soggy.
- Arrange pitas on a large baking sheet unless you are baking them directly on the oven rack. Spoon meat mixture onto pitas and smooth into an even layer to within 1/8 inch of the edge of the pita. Sprinkle feta cheese on the meat mixture.
- Bake pitas until the edges are slightly crisp and meat is lightly browned but not dried out, about 10 to 20 minutes depending on whether pitas are on a baking sheet or on the oven rack. Squeeze lime lightly over the top, sprinkle with chopped mint and enjoy!
- Tortillas may be substituted for the pitas. Ground lamb is authentic, but ground beef can be substituted.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 771 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 75 g |
| Cholesterol | 126 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 7 g |
| Protein | 42 g |
| Saturated Fat | 14 g |
| Sodium | 1663 mg |
| Sugars | 11 g |
| Fat | 33 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I have made this a few times. It’s so rich in flavor, it’s one of our favorites! I have never used fenugreek seeds because I’ve never been able to get them, but the recipe has so much to compensate. I always use the feta and mint, though it suggests it’s optional. Lamb is very fatty meat, so I do drain the fat part way through cooking before adding the tomatoes.
Wow! I’m making these this weekend! I am Armenian, and grew up on these 😀
Made these tonight for dinner and thoroughly enjoyed them! I was able to buy fenugreek seeds at the local Indian market (“methi seeds”). We bought fresh made plain and garlic nann and used those in place of pita bread. It crisped well during cooking and was really tasty! My feta cheese did not melt during cooking. If I make this again I would take the cheese out of the fridge earlier and let it warm up some. Don’t be afraid to be liberal with the lime juice – it really adds a nice kick at the end.
This is a winner for our family! Ground lamb goes on clearance regularly at our local grocery store and I usually have all the other ingredients on hand. We used Naan instead of pitas and herb goat cheese instead of feta because that’s what was in the fridge and it was SO GOOD.
This is wonderful. I used to get these by the dozen frozen from a Middle Eastern grocery. I do not live in the same area anymore so I had to try to make them myself. I was unable to make the dough as thin as the ones I used to buy, they were almost like a cracker, but the flavors were all there. I have very little experience with yeast breads but this is easy to make. They freeze very well.
This was a delicious dish, but only after I made it on pitta bread. The first night I made it using homemade pizza dough; I don’t recommend this b/c by the time the crust was done cooking (on a baking stone, no less), the topping was too dried out. I wasn’t very happy! Thankfully, I had leftover topping, so the next day I made it on shop bought pitta bread. I also spread the topping on a bit more generously. The result was tasty and fabulous! Recommended. Note that I did not use fenugreek, feta or lime. I did add more chopped fresh mint and actually added it to the topping while cooking.