Lahm bi Ajin – the pizza of Levante

Lahm bi Ajin or Lahm bi Ajeen is the pizza of the Levant and a popular street food. However, the name Lahm bi Ajin is actually not known to many people who have not by chance visited the Levantine countries or have their roots there.

Wie wird Lahm bi Ajeen zubereitet?

Preparing the recipe is pretty simple. All you have to do is prepare a dough and mix together a meat mixture. For me, pizza is a dish that I like to prepare at the weekend – even with friends as a cooking evening.

You probably have everything you need for the dough in your fridge. You will need the following ingredients:

• Wheat flour
• Dry yeast
• Water
• Milk
• Olive oil
• Sugar, salt

The topping is a little more exotic:

• Minced beef or lamb
• Onion
• Tomatoes
• Cinnamon, salt, pepper
• Pomegranate syrup

And this is how you prepare the patties:

• For the dough, a yeast water is prepared with sugar, yeast and water.
• Add the yeast mixture to the flour and knead.
• The remaining ingredients are added and kneaded into an elastic dough, which is then left to rest for 90 minutes.
• For the topping, finely dice the onion and tomatoes and season with spices and syrup.
• The dough is divided into smaller pieces and must rise again.
• Preheat the oven, roll out the dough pieces and spread with the mince mixture.
• Lahm bi Ajin are baked until crispy on either a pizza stone or a baking tray.

Now try the recipe and let me know how you liked it in the comments! I wish you lots of fun and bon appétit.

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Recipe for Lahm bi Ajeen

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Tips for preparation

• Treat yourself to a pizza stone! Incidentally, I bought a pizza stone especially for this dish. My mother uses her ominous aluminum oven, which seems to be in every Lebanese household. I would also like to have one, but unfortunately I haven’t seen one for sale yet. Therefore: pizza stone!
• When you finally have your lahm bi ajin on your plate (in Lebanon, by the way, you don’t need the “bi” and just say lahm ajin), refine your minced pizza with a little fresh lemon juice and simply close it.
• Would you like a side dish? I always have some fresh yogurt and a few gherkins.

Who can eat the dish?

Anyone who likes mince can eat this crispy patty. Is that not the case for you? Then you can veganize this Lahm bi Ajeen recipe. Use the dough recipe from the Lebanese flatbread and swap the mince for a veggie version .

What is Lahm bi Ajeen?

This street food is a type of manakish with minced meat that is very similar to Turkish lahmacun. The dough of the “Lebanese pizza” is similar, but the topping and baking time are different to the Manakish. Because a lahm bi ajeen tastes particularly good when the edges are nice and crispy. Sometimes I can’t get enough of them and eat one too many. I could also share with my siblings, but the food envy is too great for that.

This dish is often eaten as a main meal. But it’s also great with a little yogurt for breakfast or as finger food for parties. The main thing is to eat together, because being together is an important part of Lebanese food culture.

By the way, the little sister of Lahm bi Ajeen is called Sfiha and is also very delicate.

What is the difference between Lahm bi Ajeen and Lahmacun?

Let’s get back to the name. The names both mean the same thing: meat with dough. Lahm means meat and bi Ajeen means with dough. And believe me, you really can’t have more meat on pastry. That’s why I sometimes call them the burgers of the Levant. In lahmacun, the Turkish version, the meat is rather sparse and the pastry is much thinner. It is also usually filled up with some salad and sauce and rolled up for eating. Lahm bi Ajeen is simply closed. While we’re on the subject of differences: Lahmacun usually also contains peppers, whereas lahm ajeen only comes with tomatoes. At least as I know them. But both versions are definitely delicious.