Middle Eastern-Style Lamb Pizzas

bluemoon downunder's Note:

A typically Australian recipe: a wonderful multicultural mix, in this instance a blend of Italian and Middle Eastern cuisine! I found this recipe in the June 2006 issue of ‘The Australian Women’s Weekly’ and have adapted it just slightly, and posted it here for the 2006 Zaar World Tour. I haven’t yet made these pizzas but they contain all the Middle Eastern ingredients that I love: in other words, they sound as if they are right up my culinary alley!

• Total Time: 45 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium brown onions (Australians) or 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped (Americans)
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 500 g ground lamb
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup beef stock
• 2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted
• 1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
• 1/3 cup fresh mint, coarsely chopped
• 4 small prepared pizza crust (see Notes)
• 1 (280 g) jar char-grilled eggplants, drained
• 1 cup natural yoghurt
• 1 teaspoon sumaq

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan-forced/400°F/425°F fan-forced.
2. Heat the oil in a large pan and add the onion and garlic and sauté, stirring, until they are soft; add the minced lamb and cook, stirring, until it has browned; add the pepper and spices; and stir until fragrant.
3. Add the stock and the tomatoes to the pan and cook, stirring, over a medium heat until most of the liquid has evaporated; remove the pan from the heat and stir in the pine nuts, parsley and half of the mint.
4. Place the individual pizza bases on a greased oven tray; top each pizza with eggplant, then press the minced lamb mixture onto the eggplant, leaving a 3 cm (just over an inch) border.
5. Bake the pizzas on the lower shelf in a hot oven for about 12 minutes or until lightly browned.
6. Serve the pizzas topped with yoghurt and sprinkled with the remaining mint and sumac.
7. Notes: What I have referred to in the ingredients as 4 small pizza crusts were, in the original recipe, listed as 4 small individual pizza bases, but this term was not Zaar-friendly. In Australia, you can buy pizza crusts or bases in several sizes in supermarkets. I'm sure they are also available elsewhere, but perhaps called something different. The lamb mixture is suitable to freeze but is not suitable to microwave.