SEITAN LAHMAJUNS

Sometimes called Turkish pizza, the name comes from the Arabic lahm bi ajeen (bread with meat). The traditional mince is replaced with minced seitan in this recipe. Makes: 6 lahmajuns Preparation: 50 minutes, plus rising Cooking: 35 minutes

½ a 7g sachet fast-action dried yeast 2tbsp olive oil, plus extra for greasing 1tsp caster sugar

175g strong white flour,

plus extra for dusting Tahini sauce or hummus, to serve For the topping:

150g seitan

1tbsp vegetable oil

1 small onion, diced

½ red chilli, diced

1 large garlic clove, crushed 2tsp Baharat spice mix

½tbsp Middle Eastern black tamarind concentrate

½tbsp tomato purée

1 tomato, deseeded and diced ½tsp soft dark brown sugar 15g each of flat-leaf parsley and coriander, chopped 20g roasted pine nuts

1 Mix the yeast with 75ml warm water, olive oil and sugar in a large bowl. Cover with cling film and leave somewhere fairly warm to activate for about 15 minutes until beginning to froth.

2 Add half the flour to the yeast mixture and whisk together with a fork, then mix in the rest of the flour.

3 Grease a work surface with olive oil, then turn the dough out and knead for 8–10 minutes until smooth. Return to the bowl, cover with cling film and leave to rise in a warm place for 30 minutes. Turn the dough back out and knead for 2 minutes, then return to the bowl again, cover, and leave to rise for 30 minutes.

4 Between kneads, make the topping. Dice the seitan, place in a food processor and pulse until it resembles large grains of rice, then set aside.

5 Heat the vegetable oil in a small saucepan, add the onion and fry over a medium heat, stirring frequently for 5 minutes until beginning to colour. Add the chilli and garlic and cook for a further few minutes until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the spice mix and seitan and cook for a minute, stirring, until the spices release their aroma.

6 Add the tamarind, tomato purée, tomato and sugar and cook over a low heat for 8–10 minutes. Remove from the hob and leave to cool. Then, add the chopped herbs and pine nuts, and season to taste with salt if needed (seitan can be quite salty).

7 Divide the dough into 6 small balls and roll out into discs about 5mm thick. Transfer to 2 large, floured baking trays. Top each dough disc with a thin layer of the seitan mixture and leave to rest while you preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/mark 7.

8 Bake the lahmajuns for 10–15 minutes until golden on the edges and the base is crisp.

9 Serve with a cucumber salad.