Turkish Pizza

Total Time: 50 mins Preparation Time: 40 mins Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients

• 1 (1/4 ounce) envelope active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 1/3 cups water, lukewarm
• 2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup yogurt
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 baby eggplants, chopped in 1/4 -inch dice
• 1 lb medium ground lamb or 1 lb ground beef
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 1/2 cup crushed canned tomato
• coarse salt
• cracked black pepper
• 1 teaspoon sumac
• 2 fresh chili peppers, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated

Recipe

• 1 in a small bowl, add 1 1/3 cup lukewarm water and 1 teaspoons sugar.
• 2 add yeast and let sit until foamy, about 5 to 10 minutes.
• 3 combine 3 ¾ all-purpose flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer.
• 4 in a stand mixer fitted with a dough blade, add olive oil, yogurt and yeast mixture.
• 5 blend.
• 6 knead on low speed for about 10 to 12 minutes until the dough comes together and is smooth.
• 7 turn dough onto a well-floured surface.
• 8 using the remaining flour continue to knead the dough by hand until smooth and elastic.
• 9 place the dough in a lightly oiled medium bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
• 10 let rest in a warm spot until doubled, about 45 to 60 minutes.
• 11 heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a medium large sauté pan on medium heat.
• 12 add the eggplant and season with salt and pepper.
• 13 sauté eggplant until soft, then transfer to a plate or bowl. let eggplant cool to room temperature.
• 14 in the same sauté pan, add 1 tablespoons of olive over medium high heat.
• 15 add lamb and season with sumac and salt and pepper.
• 16 sauté until browned, about 5 minutes.
• 17 add tomato paste, crushed tomatoes and continue to cook for another 5 minutes, just to cook the tomato paste.
• 18 let mixture cool to room temperature.
• 19 combine eggplant with the lamb mixture in a large bowl.
• 20 add garlic, chiles, parsley and ½ cup of the grated mozzarella. toss to combine.
• 21 preheat oven to 500 degrees f.
• 22 place a pizza stone on the bottom rack of the oven and heat pizza stone according to manufacturer’s directions.
• 23 punch down dough. divide dough into 4 equal pieces.
• 24 using your hands, stretch and pull each piece of dough into about 10 x 12-inch ovals.
• 25 sprinkle some flour onto a pizza paddle.
• 26 place an oval of dough onto the pizza paddle.
• 27 evenly spoon ¼ of the lamb and eggplant mixture over the dough, leaving a 1-inch border.
• 28 fold over edges of the dough using a twisting action to create a crust.
• 29 sprinkle ¼ of the remaining grated cheese (about 1/3 cup) on top of the lamb and eggplant mixture.
• 30 transfer the pizza onto the preheated pizza stone.
• 31 bake until topping is bubbly and crust is golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes.
• 32 cut in strips or wedges.
• 33 repeat with remaining ovals of dough.