Last updated on May 10th, 2018 at 03:07 pm
Turkish Gozleme with Lamb – savoury homemade flatbreads from scratch filled with ground lamb, spices, herbs and feta cheese. You won’t be able to eat just one!
Alright folks, it’s time to make some Turkish food. These Turkish gozleme are to die for and in case you’re wondering what they are, well I can help. Gozleme is a traditional savoury Turkish flatbread or pastry filled with meat, spinach, feta and lots of herbs. The possibilities are endless. There are many variations of gozleme but this is my version, and by no means am I saying this is authentic.
The best part is that this recipe comes complete with an easy homemade pastry from scratch which only requires 3 ingredients. But of course the filling is the star of the show. We’ve got ground lamb that’s seasoned with lots of spices such as cumin, coriander and smoked paprika and cooked together with spinach making for an irresistible savoury filling.
I actually enjoy making my own dough and as I said it’s really easy to make, and you don’t need to let this dough rise or anything. I kneaded this by hand, but feel free to use your mixer and it’s going to be a lot easier. This dough will be enough to make 4 gozleme, but each one is quite big, and it makes for a very hearty lunch. If you wanted to make more, you could easily just double the recipe.
However, if you’re not too keen on making your own dough, I think using tortillas would work as well, you could make them just like you make quesadillas. This would definitely save you time.
If you’re not a fan of lamb, use your favorite ground meat, ground chicken or ground beef would be wonderful in this recipe. Honestly though, I recommend trying it with ground lamb first, it’s really good, and it will give you more of that authentic taste. I also combined the frozen spinach with the lamb and cooked it all together, but it’s not necessary. You could add the spinach when you’re adding all the other herbs, totally up to you.
The addition of the chopped tomato is probably not authentic either, but I wanted a bit of color and freshness there, however it could be substituted with some red chili peppers instead and that will also give you some nice heat. When all is said and done, these babies will surely please. Make sure to squeeze some lemon over them before you eat them and the flavors will just pop in your mouth. I have to say this is my kind of snacking. I could seriously eat like this every day but that could be because I’m a huge fan of Turkish meat pies.
If you try this recipe, please let us know! Leave a comment, rate it and tag a photo #jocooks on Instagram so we can see it. I always love to see what you guys come up with!
Turkish Gozleme with Minced Lamb
Ingredients
For Dough
- 2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt plain
- 1/2 cup water
For Filling
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small onion chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 lb ground lamb
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp coriander ground
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 2 tsp cumin ground
- 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
- 1/4 tsp pepper or to taste
- 6 oz spinach frozen, thawed and chopped
- 1/2 cup fresh mint chopped
- 2 green onions chopped
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley chopped
- 1/2 cup feta cheese crumbled
- 1 medium tomato chopped
- lemon wedges and olives to serve
Instructions
- Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and stir in the yogurt and water. Continue mixing with a spoon until everything is well combined. If the dough is too dry adjust by adding a bit more water, start with a tablespoon at a time.
- Flour your work surface and knead the dough for about 3 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Cover with plastic wrap or a clean tea towel and set aside.
- In a medium skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat then add the chopped onion and garlic. Saute onion and garlic for 3 to 4 minutes or until the onion is soft and translucent.
- Add the ground lamb to the skillet and break it up with a wooden spoon. Cook for about 4 to 5 minutes, until browned. Stir in the tomato paste, coriander, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. Add the spinach, stir everything together and cook for another 2 minutes. Let the meat mixture cool slightly.
- In the meantime divide the dough into 4 equal portions. Roll each piece into a rectangle that's about 12x10 inches.
- Spoon about 3 tbsp of the lamb mixture in the middle of the rectangle and spread it out a bit. Add some fresh mint, green onions, fresh parsley, 1/4 of the crumbled feta, and some chopped tomato. Fold over the edges of the dough to seal. Repeat with remaining dough pieces.
- Spray a large skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium heat. Depending on the size of your skillet, add 1 or 2 of the gozleme and cook on each side for about 3 to 4 minutes or until golden brown and crisp. Spray more cooking spray as needed.
- Cut each gozleme in half diagonally and serve with lemon wedges and olives.
Notes
Nutrition
Products you may need for this recipe:
Yum yum yum! I drained some fat from the cooked lamb before adding tomato paste and spices. Also added some cayenne and red pepper flakes ‘cause we like spicy. And used fresh spinach, chopped up. Dough is a dream to handle. So happy with this recipe. Saved two dough balls and some filling for tomorrow. Next time I’ll make all and freeze some, per your suggestion. Thanks!
My boyfriend is from Istanbul, Turkey living in Belize, central america. I want to surprise him with a little taste of home. Hopefully this does the trick! Can’t wait to try it.
Let us know what he says! I’m sure it’ll be a big hit 🙂
So easy and everyone loved it!
I made this tonight for dinner it was amazing, delicious and easy to make. Will definitely make this again, and I would not change a thing it was perfect