Cookies Preferences
These are the two sort of standard man'oushe recipes you'll find at the local furn (or oven) all over Lebanon. The best one I ever had was up in a little Druze village in the Chouf Mountains just an hour's drive from Beirut (it was worth the hair-raising trip). The key to the lahm bi ajeen (which means meat and dough) is to press it ever so slightly into the dough before you cook it so that it sinks into the crust while it's cooking. My fellow chef Wasna was the one who told me her mother's trick with this recipe was to add a touch of tahini to the meat. You can throw on some chilis if you'd like making for a delicious sweet, salty, spicy concoction.
The zaatar man'oushe is the food of the everyman in Lebanon. Please read my blog about Furn Michel, the little bakery that was under my kitchen atelier. Wrap your man'oushe around labneh and crunchy vegetables and you'll be in heaven.
For the lahm bi ajeen
2 balls of man’oushe dough (see recipe under essentials)
1/4 pound ground beef
1/4 pound ground lamb
1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses
1 tablespoon tahini
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 red chili pepper, minced
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
2 tablespoons onion, grated
1/2 teaspoon salt
pinch ground black pepper
For the man’oushe zaatar
4 balls of man’oushe dough.
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup zaatar spice mix
Salt, to taste
note: classic man'oushe zaatar toppings would be: labnhe, chopped olives, halved cherry tomatoes, cucumber spears, mint sprigs, and a drizzle of olive oil.
The Sharif toppings: labneh and apricot jam
For the lahm bi ajeen
Combine all ingredients in a bowl (except the dough of course), being careful not to over-mix.
Heat your oven as high as it will go and place either a pizza stone or upside down sheet pan in the oven to get very hot. Roll out the man’oushe dough into long oval shapes on a lightly floured piece of parchment. Work the meat into a thin, even layer over the dough, so that it doesn’t separate from the crust and shrink to the center as it cooks. Place the parchment with the dough directly on the super hot surface in your oven. Cook for 10 minutes or until the meat is brown and the edges of the dough are starting to char.
For the man'oushe zaatar
Combine the olive oil and zaatar. Salt it to taste if you're using unsalted zaatar.
Heat your oven as high as it will go and place either a pizza stone or upside down sheet pan in the oven to get very hot. Roll out the man’oushe dough into long oval shapes on a lightly floured piece of parchment. Top with about 1/4 of the zaatar mixture (about a heaping tablespoon) and spread it out using your fingers or the back of a spoon. Let it rest for about 5 to 10 minutes before it goes in the oven.
Once the oven has preheated, place your parchment paper directly on the preheated surface and cook for 10 minutes until it’s nicely browned and bubbling. Pile on the toppings as you’d like and roll up into a little handheld sandwich.
For The Sharif
Make the man'oushe zaatar as you would above. Once out of the oven slather it with labneh (or sour cream or creme fraiche or even cream cheese) and apricot jam.
