In my Iraqi Kitchen: Recipes, History and Culture, by Nawal Nasrallah (2024)

Lahm b-'Ajeen

Arabian Counterpart of Italian Pizza

لحم بعجين

Lahm b-'ajeenapparently had a long history in the Arab regions, and it seems to have first originated in the Levant. The earliest recipe I could lay my hands on occurs in 13th-century Aleppan cookbook Al-Wusla ila ‘l-Habeeb (الوصلة الى الحبيب في وصف الطيبات والطيب)written by the well-known Syrian historian Ibn Al-'Adeem (d. 1262). The recipe is just one line long, but it certainly points to our dish, "Meat is cut, spread on flattened discs of dough, and then put in the brick oven furn.” (p. 2:556)

However, in Iraq this food seems to have been kept on the back burner for a long while. When I was still a kid in Baghdad, not many peopleknew of it. We used to get it by order from the neighborhood bakery owned by anArmenian, but his version was very basic. The topping consisted of just meat,onions, salt, and black pepper. By the seventies, though, popularity of this delicious bread picked up and many small bakeries specialized in making it were opened in the major cities of Iraq to meet theincreasingdemand. Itcomes out of their brick ovens sizzling hot,lusciously moistand tender, and dripping with the melted fat of meat.Delicious surely, but unfortunately too greasy.

First we need to prepare the dough (the 'ajeen part):

2 tablespoons dry yeast

1 tablespoon sugar

½ cup warm water

9 cups (2¼ pounds) bread flour

1 tablespoon salt

½ cup oil

3 cups warm water

1. Dissolve yeast and sugar in ½ cup warm water, set aside for 5 minutes.

2. Put flour and salt in a big bowl. Make a well in themiddle, and pour yeast mixture along with oil and water. With a wooden spoon,incorporate liquids into flour in a circular movement. With slightly oiledhands, knead dough for about 5 minutes. The final dough should be of mediumconsistency. Oil dough on both sides and set it aside, covered, in a warmdraft-free place for 45 minutes or until well risen.

Now to the meat part (lahm):

While waiting for the dough to rise, prepare the topping:

3 medium onions (about 2 cups), finely chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 heaping tablespoons tomato paste (one 6-ounce can)

1½ - 2 pounds ground lean meat (beef or lamb, or a mix of both)

¾ cup chopped parsley

2 medium tomatoes (about 1½ cups), finely chopped

1 tablespoon pomegranate syrup (may use lemon juice instead)

2 teaspoonsbaharat(spice mix, follow link for recipe)

2 teaspoons salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

½ teaspoon allspice

¼ teaspoon chili pepper, or to taste

Sauté onion in oil, about 5 minutes (just enough to soften it), and then stir in tomato paste until it emits a nice aroma, about a minute. Set aside until it cools down to room temperature. Then mix in the rest of the topping ingredients.

Now, it's shape and bake time:

1. Position one of the oven shelves at the lowest level ifoven is electric, and put on it a pizza stone or an inverted baking sheet. If oven is gas,remove the lowest shelf, and place the pizza stone right on the oven floor.Position the second shelf at the highest level, and preheat oven 420°F.

2. As soon as dough rises, punch it down and divide it into20 pieces, which you shape into neat balls by tucking in the sides withslightly oiled hands. Place portions on a lightly-oiled surface..

3. Since the dough does not need to rise again, you can startshaping and baking right away. Lightly cover work surface and rollingpin with olive oil, and roll out a dough portion into a disc about 7 inches indiameter (or rectangle), about ⅛ inch thick. Place the flattened dough on a piece of parchmentpaper, a little bigger than the dough disc. Spread about ¼ cup of the meat mix on it. It should cover the surface in a thin layer,leaving a slight border uncovered. Lightly brush uncovered border witholive oil. (If parchment paper is not available, use greased baking sheets).



4. Immediately, and with the help of a small bread peel (or a solid piece of cardboard or wood or anything similar). Slide the disc into the hot stone or the inverted baking sheet. Dough is not supposed to puff like pita bread, and it will take about 8 minutes to bake. You can bake 2 or 3 at a time depending on oven or pizza stone size. While this batch is baking, start working on the other batches. You might transfer half-baked ones to the upper shelf, and put some new ones on lower shelf to expedite the procedure.

6. As soon as you take the baked ones out of the oven, stackthem with the parchment paper, in a big paper bag, lined with a kitchen towel or paper napkins,and partially close the bag. Or use a large container (see photo to your right). The parchment paper will prevent the topping fromsticking to the bottom of the piece above it.

Best when eaten hot right from the oven, but also good atroom temperature. Any leftovers may be refrigerated or frozen, and warmed up inthe oven.