Middle Eastern Spicy Lamb with Gluten Free Flatbread and Yoghurt

Posted by thesensitivefoodie on October 2, 2013 in Egg Free, Gluten Free, Nut Free, Soy Free, Sugar Free | 4 Comments

When we sit down to a meal, and after a few bites my husband says “are you sure this won’t make you sick?” I know I am onto a winner. I used to make this every now and then, but kept flicking past the recipe since I gave up gluten, and cow’s dairy, thinking it was in the never to be made again pile. This week I decided to give making a gluten free flatbread a go, after finding sheeps milk yogurt at the supermarket and made my own labneh (or labna) yoghurt cheese (I’ll post the recipe once my next batch is ready).

I didn’t hold high hopes for the flatbread working, the commercial gluten, dairy, egg free wraps I have tried all crack and fall apart, and are either quite dry or really chewy. But somehow, it works, it really works! The bread has a lovely crisp crunch on the edges, is soft on the inside, can be rolled up as a wrap without falling apart, and tastes amazing – just as good as it used to. Hence why my husband thought it had to have gluten in it, he was blown away by how he could not pick that it wasn’t the same dish we used to have. I’m not sure, but I think it is the sesame oil that you brush the bread with, that helps hold it all together, so make sure you cover the whole piece of bread right to the edges. And the labneh was divine, but if you  can’t find it in the store or don’t have time (it takes 24 hours to make), just use plain yoghurt instead. I’m lucky, that I can still have goat & sheep milk products, I find goats yoghurt too strong for me, but the sheeps yoghurt was much milder, and lost even more of the ‘lamby’ taste, during the making of the cheese, so it tastes pretty much the same as the cows milk version.

I have already made this dish twice this week, it is that good!

Suitable for: gluten, wheat, egg & soy free diets. Contains sheep milk dairy & pine nuts – if you can’t have them, just leave them out.

Flatbread

400g gluten free plain flour – I use Yes You Can Brand (if not making gluten free, just use normal flour)

1 & 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon ground cumin

250ml cold water

5 tablespoons sesame oil

1 cup shallots, finely sliced

Spicy Lamb

1/4 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted

3 garlic cloves, crushed

1 small onion, finely diced

500g lamb mince

1 teaspoon chilli powder

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

chilli flakes to sprinkle over

a handful of coriander leaves

lemon wedges, to serve

Labneh or plain yoghurt to serve (I made labneh from sheeps yoghurt)

Method

1) heat frypan over medium heat, dry roast pine nuts (no oil) for 2-3 mins until golden, stirring continualy

2) In a large bowl, add the flour, baking powder, salt, cumin, water & shallots. Mix well, and then begin to knead. Once the dough has come together, you can put it on a floured surface to kneed properly. With the gluten free version, don’t worry too much about kneading for ages, the gluten isn’t going to activate, just knead it until a good dough has formed. Let sit for 30 mins while making the mince mixture.

3) In a saucepan, add 1 tablespoon olive oil and cook the onion until softened. Add the garlic and the mince and stir until browned. Add the cumin, coriander and chilli powder, and stir until the mince starts to crisp up. Stir through toasted pin nuts. Put aside.

4) Divide the dough mixture into 4 equal pieces, and knead each piece until soft and malleable. I find putting some sesame oil on my board help to roll it out, without sticking. Roll out each piece of dough until about 1/4 cm thick. Brush each side with sesame oil, and repeat with remaining dough.

5) In a clean frypan, add extra sesame oil to frypan and then cook each piece of bread, until golden on each side. Repeat with remaining bread.

6) Top each flatbread with the mince mixture, one or two balls of labneh or a dollop of plain yoghurt, sprinkle with chilli flakes and coriander leaves. Serve with lemon wedges to squeeze over the top.

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