Makes about 15 servings
-
1 lb lamb, boneless, but not trimmed of its fat
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
1 red pepper, roughly chopped
½ a green pepper, roughly chopped
generous handful of parsley, roughly chopped
15oz can finely diced tomatoes, drained (but reserve the liquid)
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon paprika and a dash of paprika or ½ teaspoon aleppo
15 8-inch flour tortillas
Special equipment
- food processor
Method
- Preheat your oven to 400° F. Chop lamb into approximately 1½ inch cubes and grind in the food processor, pulsing merrily. You don’t want a lamb mush, you want the consistency of finely chopped hamburger.
Next, finely chop the onion, peppers, parlsey and garlic in the food processor. Again, you don’t want a mush, you want them only finely chopped. Squeeze out any excess liquid. The vegetables should be fairly dry.
Mix the chopped vegies with the lamb, tomatoes, tomato paste and spices. If it’s too dry, you can add some of the reserved tomato juice
With your fingers, spread about 4 Tablespoons of the topping very thinly over each tortilla. You want a very thin topping spread to the very edges. Bake about 10 minutes until the meat has browned and the tortilla has just started turning golden. Do not overcook; the bread should be soft, not crisp. Stack with meat sides facing one another, and repeat until all the ingredients are used up.
Notes
- The family recipe was never passed down to the half-Odar grandchildren, but this slight variation of Robyn Kalajian’s Shortcut Lahmajoun has the exact taste of the family dish.
Suggestions
- Lahmanjoun is supposed to be able to freeze well if each pair is separated by wax paper, but we’ve never tried. Nor needed to: with pre-made tortillas, the recipe is easy and quick.