Egyptian Pizza

First off I've never been to Egypt. I've been to a lot of other places but never Egypt - not yet anyhow. But way back, before I really started travelling, in fact when I was a student and these things were just dreams and my love of food was greater I bought a range of cookbooks from Sainsbury's. I bought over ten of them - one a week. I was begining to cook more and although still living with my parents I was moving out soon and you could say preparing myself by increasing my Recipe Book ownership - it was the eighties and I wanted dinner parties and cook grown up food and My Learn to Cook Book by Ursula Sedgwick (Hamlyn) and The Pooh Cook Book by Kate Stewart (Methuen), were just a teensy bit child like. I still have all these books, including my two child hood favourites on my now groaning cook book shelves, but there are three I return to again and again - The Chocolate Lover's Cookbook by Patrcia Lousada, Low Fat Cookery by Wendy Godfrey and A Traveller's Tastes by Joceline Dimbleby. There are pages in these books that look new - well, as new as an old book can look - but then there are pages that are food splattered from over use before the recipe got commited to memory that are jsut checked occasionally for quantities. One such recipes is Egyptian Pizza.

From A Traveller's Tastes, Egyptian Pizza just appealed to me. I love pizza, being brought up like many a London child of the 70's on Pizza Express, but this was more, a stuffed pizza different from a Calzone and before Pizza Hut started doing their stuffed crust but even that is of no comparison. A pizza without cheese and full of spices. I had to make it and once made, that was it, I was hooked.

I've looked up Egyptian Pizza on the internet and I have found nothing that can compare with this recipe. They all seem to go down the traditional looking pizza route with toppings on top of flat breads - nice but still of no comparison.

Over the years it has taken on many guises. I've made it with peppers and even a mushrooms and cheese version for a vegitarian friend (I know blasphomy), but since then I have refined the recipe and no longer fry it, but go for a lesser fattening option of baking and grilling.

Joceline Dimbledy discovered, or a version of this recipe in a back street of Cairo. It was late and she was hungry, the smell enticed her to this dark side street where the pizza was baked over hot charcoal. I am so glad that she studied the chef at work before returning home and recreating this fabulous dish.

So here is my adjusted version ..... it serves 4 at a push 5 and serve it with a green salad - a meditarian type of salad of olives, nuts, seeds, sun dried tomatoes and feta cheese ...

For the dough:
350g plain flour and extra for roling
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 pint of boiling water

For the filling:
Olive oil
250 - 300g lean minced beef
1 onion chopped small
1 teaspoon of ground Cinamon
1 teaspoon of ground Corriander
1 teaspoon of ground Cumin
1/2 teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper
1 tablespoon of Tomato puree
40g melted butter
1 egg beaten
a handful of chopped Corriander

To make the dough put the flour and salt in a bowl, make a well in the middle and slowly incorporate the water with a spoon - it will get sticky. Gather it together and knead it on a flour surface until it is smooth and elastic. Return it to the bowl and cover with cling film - keep warm - for 30 minutes.

In a frying pan heat a glug of olive oil and add the onion. Once softened add the spices and allow to cook through for about 2 minutes. Add the mince and stir it around breaking it up, it will take about 4 to 5 minutes to brown and cook. Then add the tomato puree and stir in.

Now for the hard bit. Make sure you have enough space on your work surface to roll out the dough to about 50 cm diameter. Flour well. Place the dough in the center and with a floured rolling pin roll out, lifting up the dough to make sure it isn't sticking to the surface - you may need to add more flour.

Brush the melted butter over the dough suface and then evenly spread over the cooked meat and scatter the Corriander. Pour over the beaten egg evenly. Start rolling up the dough disk to make a long sausage. Now carefully roll the sauage into a spiral. You may need to add extra flour along the way to stop sticking. Now press the spiral down - don't worry if the sides split a bit - you need to make it about 3 - 4 cms thick. Put the Pizza on an oiled baking sheet and place in a very hot oven for 15 minutes then place under a hot grill until the top is browned. Turn over and cook the bottom - to do this use a plate or a chopping board, place on top of the pizza and flip - then return to the baking tray and grill the otherside until browned.

To serve cut into wedges and enjoy!