This is one I can thank my mum and her love of food magazines for! We got this from the Spinney’s magazine in the UAE. This is really tasty, I think you could make the pides smaller and serve as appetisers or party food very easily.

Ingredients

Topping

• 1tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• Pinch of allspice
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp dried oregano
• 400g lean lamb mince
• 200g chopped tomatoes
• 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses (I used balsamic glaze this time as a substitute)
• pinch caster sugar
• 100g drainers roasted red peppers in oil, sliced
• 125g feta, crumbled
• 2 tsp black onion seeds
• seeds from 1 pomegranate
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley
• 1/2 tsp ground sumac

Dough

• 350g strong white bread flour
• 7g easy-blend dried yeast
• pinch caster sugar
• 2tbsp olive oil

Directions

1. Start with the topping, add some oil (I use Frylight as a substitute) to a large pan on medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft but not browned. Then add your garlic, spices and oregano and cook for a further minute.
2. Add the lamb and cook for until browned on a medium-high heat (about 5 minutes). Now add the tomatoes, pomegranate molasses (in my case balsamic glaze) and sugar, then season. Cook this for 20 minutes until the meat is tender and the juice from the tomatoes has evaporated. You don’t want a soggy mixture when you’re placing this onto the dough later. Leave this to cool and prepare the dough. If you want you can drain off any excess fat/moisture.
3. Pour the flour into a Kitchenaid (or any mixer with a dough hook). Add the yeast, sugar and a pinch of salt and combine. Make a well in the centre and pour in the olive oil and 200-225ml of warm water. Mix this on a medium setting for about 8 minutes. The dough should be smooth and elastic. Then turn it onto a work surface and shape the dough into a ball.
4. Lightly oil a bowl and place the dough in and cover with cling film, leave this to rest for 1 hour in a warm place. It should double in size.
5. Preheat the oven to 200C and line a try with baking paper. Take the dough and divide equally into 8 pieces. Once divided roll these out to form a pita bread shape. Place the meat, feta and peppers in the centre leaving space around the edges. Then take the ends and twist to form a ‘boat’. I end up having some meat left over, which you can have on it’s own and serve with a salad.
6. Place them all in the oven and cook for 15-20 minutes until golden!
7. These are great on their own – I had some brussel sprouts leftover, so I served them with some balsamic glaze as a side. Probably not a traditional Middle Eastern side but oh well!

Makes 8