This Vegan Turkish Pizza is easy to make, very flavourful and so delicious! It is made from gluten-free flatbread and is topped with spicy vegan mince, olives, tomatoes, fresh herbs, and vegan sour cream. If you are looking to try a new pizza variation you definitely need to try this middle-eastern pizza.
Vegan Turkish Pizza Recipe.
This Vegan Turkish Pizza is versatile, wholesome, healthy, bursting with flavor, simple to make and just so good! The recipe is vegan, low FODMAP and gluten-free!
What is Lahmacun or Turkish Pizza?
Lahmacun or Turkish Pizza is a flatbread topped with minced meat (usually lamb or beef), peppers, tomatoes, olives, parsley, or some other fresh herbs. In this case, because it is a vegan Turkish pizza I made a vegan mince alternative using lentil and walnuts.
Why you will love this Vegan Turkish Pizza?
Healthy (much much healthier than the traditional American pizza!), and super simple to make! Are you convinced already? After hearing these two things I was already on my way to make it! This Turkish pizza is loaded with wholesome and healthy ingredients like lentils, walnuts, tomatoes, olives, parsley, and more. So if you are craving fast food or pizza but you want to stay on a healthier side, this is a recipe for you!
How to make this Vegan Turkish Pizza?
Here is an easy step-by-step guide, explaining to you how to make the best Vegan Turkish Pizza. The full recipe with exact measurements can be found in the recipe card below!
STEP 1 - PREPARE THE DOUGH
In a medium bowl add the flour, cream of tartar, salt, and sugar and whisk to combine well. Add the yeast and whisk one more time. Add the yogurt, melted butter, and water, and either with your hands or with a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix on medium speed for about 3 minutes. The dough should be a little bit sticky. Press the dough into a ball, cover it and place it in a warm spot to rise until it doubles in volume (for about 40 minutes)
STEP 2 - PREPARE THE TOPPINGS
Put the lentils together with the walnuts, roasted pepper and tomato paste in a food processor and pulse until you have a smooth mixture.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add garlic-infused oil, and the lentil and walnut mixture. Season with smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, cumin, allspice, cinnamon, black pepper, and salt. Cook on medium heat for 5 to 6min stirring constantly.
STEP 3 - ASSEMBLE THE PIZZA
Preheat the oven to 190°C (375° F). Once the dough has risen, transfer it over a lightly floured surface and divide it into 4 equal pieces (you can also divide it into 4 pieces, but then your pizzas will be slightly bigger). Sprinkle each piece lightly with more flour and roll them into oval-shaped or round pizzas (about ⅜ inch thick). Spread the topping over each piece. Bake the pizzas for 10 to 15 minutes, if you want them on the crustier side bake a couple of minutes longer.
STEP 4 - SERVE AND ENJOY!
I like serving my Turkish Pizza with vegan sour cream, fresh tomatoes, fresh parsley, and kalamata olives. You don't need to use all of these ingredients, and you can also add or substitute any of them with other ingredients that you like! It's best served warm, ENJOY! ????
When you have both prepared. Simply top the flatbread with the mince, bake and the pizza is ready!
To find the exact amount of the ingredients, scroll to the end of this page.
What flour to use to make it?
I like to use my universal homemade gluten-free flour blend. Which is a mix of the following flours :
3. Sweet Rice Flour (Glutinous Rice aka Sticky Rice)
4. Tapioca Flour (tapioca starch is the same as tapioca flour)
5. Xanthan Gum
If you can’t make that one, you can try with any gluten-free flour mix (just make sure it contains xanthan gum because that helps in binding the dough). The final result using different flour mix might vary slightly, depending on what flours your mix contains.
To find the recipe for my gluten-free flour mix click, HERE.
Make-ahead tip:
If you want you can prepare the pizzas ahead of time. Both the crust and the topping can be prepared ahead and you can bake your pizzas whenever you feel like it!
For preparing the topping ahead of time, simply put the cooked topping in an airtight lid container and refrigerate until you are ready to use ( you can refrigerate for up to 3 days). You can also place it in a freezer-friendly container or bags and freeze it for up to 3 months (when you want to use it, you will need to warm and defrost it in a pan.
For preparing the dough ahead of time, you can knead the dough and leave it to rise in the fridge overnight for making it the next day.
You can also freeze unbaked pizzas (just the dough or with the topping). Simply stack them up, putting parchment paper between them, place them in a freezer bag and seal it tightly.
Storing tip:
Leftover pizza can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
*FODMAP tips:
*To make sure that your flour mix is fodmap friendly I recommend that you make your own gluten-free flour mix, I always make this one. Or always read the ingredients of the store-bought gluten-free flour mixes. Make sure your mix doesn’t contain soy flour, chickpea/besan/gram/garbanzo bean flour, lentil flour, coconut flour, amaranth flour, or lupin flour.
*According to Monash University the low FODMAP serving size of canned lentils is 46g. This recipe uses 80g canned lentils but serves 2 portions. Canned legumes/pulses have lower FODMAP content because the water-soluble Oligos-GOS and fructans leach out of the bean. Just make sure to rinse them well before using them.
* Only the green part from the spring onion is low FODMAP.
*All the ingredients used in this recipe are FODMAP friendly, however, As a general rule always read the labels of the ingredients that you use as there can be sneaky FODMAP’s in any product. To educate yourself on which foods are high in FODMAP’s I’d strongly recommend downloading Monash Unversity FODMAP Diet.
Recipe
Vegan Turkish Pizza
Ingredients
To make the flatbread
- 180 g (1cup) gluten-free flour blend
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 4 g Instant Yeast
- 45 g plant-based yogurt (coconut)
- 20 g vegan butter
- 90 g warm water
- ½ teaspoon salt
For the topping
- 160 g canned lentils
- 100 g walnuts
- 2 roasted red bell peppers
- 1 teaspoon tomato paste
- green parts of 3 spring onions (choped)
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cumin
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon ground allspice
Instructions
To make the flatbread
- In a medium bowl add the flour, salt, and sugar and whisk to combine well. Add the yeast and whisk one more time. Add the yogurt, melted butter and water, and either with your hands or with a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix on medium speed for about 3 minutes. The dough should be a little bit sticky. If you are using a mixer you will need to pull away from the sides of the bowl in spots. Because It will not turn into a fully integrated ball of dough on its own.
- Press the dough into a ball, cover it and place it in a warm spot to rise until it doubles in volume (for about 40 minutes
To make the topping
- Drain the lentils from the water and rinse well.
- Add the rinsed lentils in a blender, together with the walnuts, roasted pepper, tomato puree and green parts of spring onion. Blend until all the ingredients combine and you get a puree-like consistency. Watch out to not over process it, it shoudl still habe some textre
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add garlic-infused oil, and the lentil and walnut mixture. Season with smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, cumin, allspice, cinnamon, black pepper, and salt. Cook on medium heat for 5 to 6min stirring constantly.
Assamlbe the pizzas
- Preheat the oven to 190°C (375° F
- Once the dough has finished rising, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and sprinkle lightly with more flour. Divide the dough into 4 pieces. Working with one piece of dough at a time, lightly flour it and roll it into an oval shape about ⅜ inch thick.
- Spread the topping over each piece.
- Bake the pizzas for 10 to 15min.
- Serve with fresh tomatoes, parsley, olives and/or vegan sour cream
- Best served while it's warm. Enjoy! 🙂
Reen says
I love lentil + walnut recipes! But I am wondering why the topping needs to he heated or cooked prior to spreading it on the dough?