Spiced Lamb Flatbread (Lahmacun)

* This is a sponsored post for Welsh Lamb *
This Spiced Lamb Flatbread (also known as Lahmacun) is kind of like a Middle Eastern pizza. A soft and chewy homemade flatbread base topped with spiced minced Welsh Lamb, creamy and cooling tzatziki, plenty of herbs and chunks of feta with jewels of pomegranate.

If you are looking for something easy, but still impressive to serve guests at a dinner party, then give this spiced lamb flatbread (traditionally known as Lahmacun)a try. Slice it up and put it on the table and let everyone dig in.

Serve it with some extra dips like hummus and tzatziki, some olives and crispy potatoes for a full meal.

Jump to:

• Why should you try it?
• What you will need
• Step by step
• What lamb to use
• Lamb spices
• Homemade flatbread
• Extra tips
• More lamb recipes
• Recipe

Why should you try it?

What you will need

• Flatbread - We used our homemade flatbread dough, rolled out in to one large flatbread and dry fried until puffed up. You could use store bought flatbread for convenience.
• Tzatziki - We used our tzatziki recipe, but again, you can use store bought.
• Lamb - This recipe uses Welsh lamb - see below for more information.
• Ras-el-hanout - The perfect spice to add to this Middle Eastern inspired recipe.
• Cheese - Feta is the perfect cheese for this recipe as it holds its shape and is nice and creamy.
• Pomegranate jewels - Not only do these add wonderful pops of colour, they add a nice crunch and some extra fibre and antioxidants.
• Fresh mint and parsley - The ideal herbs to accompany lamb.

Step by step

One: Put the lamb in to a food processor and pulse to form mince.

Two: Heat a little oil in a pan and then add the lamb mince. Gently heat for 4 minutes.

Three: Add the ras-el-hanout, mix well and cook for a further 2 minutes.

Four: Roll out the flatbread dough to one big flatbread and then dry fry until it has puffed up. Spread a mixture of olive oil and chopped herbs on it and then pop it under the grill for 1 minute.

Five: Spread the tzatziki on the flatbread.

Six: Top it with the minced lamb.

Seven: Add the crumbled feta, pomegranate and chopped herbs before serving.

What lamb to use

The lamb is the star of the show here, which is why it's important to use top quality lamb. We have used PGI Welsh Lamb - it is different from other UK lamb.

It has special characteristics, flavours and textures that are unique to Wales. The PGI status of Welsh Lamb guarantees the quality, authenticity and integrity of the brand. 

Wales is perfectly adapted to the production of natural pasture, with acre after acre of lush green grass, combined with heathers and indigenous fragrant wild herbs which contribute to the unique and distinctive flavours of Welsh Lamb.

It is both sweet and succulent and we honestly think you can taste the difference, and it's why we love using it in our recipes.

Did you know that sheep farming in Wales is documented as far back as the 14th Century? According to the Royal Chef in the late 19th Century, Queen Victoria considered Welsh Lamb to be the tenderest and would have no other lamb served in the Royal Household. 

Year after year, generation after generation, the singular husbandry and grassland management skills of the proud and passionate Welsh farmers are practised across Wales, predominantly on small, traditional family farms.

Love Lamb Week

It is Love Lamb Week this week, which was started by Cumbrian sheep farmer Rachel Lumley in 2015.  The week (1-7 September 2018) is an industry-wide initiative involving the Agriculture & Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), the National Sheep Association (NSA), the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), Red Tractor, HCC in Wales, LMC Northern Ireland and QMS in Scotland and aims to increase awareness of lamb amongst UK consumers.

Many people think of lamb as just a roast, or to use in stews, but there is so much more that you can do with it and it can be healthy too. We are here to show you that a lamb dish can be light and fresh, just like on this Spiced Lamb Flatbread.

To keep lamb dishes lighter, trim off any visible fat, use just a little oil and drain any extra fat (but still keeping some for flavour).

Lamb spices

The spices we have used here really bring the lamb flavour to life and make this a flavour packed flatbread. We kept it simple and used a ras-el-hanout spice blend, which is made up of cumin, chilli, cinnamon, paprika, coriander, cardamom and much more.

If you don't have any ras-el-hanout blend but you do have a well stocked spice cabinet, then you could easily make up a blend yourself using the previously mentioned herbs and spices.

Homemade flatbread

It's so easy, not to mention much cheaper, to make your own flatbread. Just mix together 3 ingredients, roll them out and then dry fry them until the puff up. We used 4 portions of our homemade flatbread recipe, and rolled it out in to one big flatbread.

You could leave it just there, but we mixed together some olive oil and chopped herbs and then brushed that over the cooked flatbread before adding all the extra toppings - it just gave it a bit more flavour.

We spread some homemade tzatziki on top of the flatbreads, topped it with the cooked Welsh Lamb and then scattered over some extra herbs, feta, pomegranate and some pine nuts for added crunch.

This Spiced Lamb Flatbread is definitely a dish to wow your lamb loving dinner guests.

Extra tips

• If you don't have a ras-el-hanout spice blend, then you can just make up your own spice blend with a mixture of the herbs and spices mentioned above.
• Serve these spiced lamb flatbreads with extra dips, olives and some crispy roasted potatoes.
• If you don't want to make your own flatbreads, a store bought one will work too.
• Try to use Welsh Lamb in this recipe, as you really can taste the difference.

More lamb recipes

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