Lebanese pizza, or manoush, is a round flat pie with a pita bread crust, often served for breakfast. Popular toppings include halloumi cheese, sujuk, zaatar, sumac, and minced lamb with allspice. The pizza is cooked in a hot oven and often served with a spoonful of yogurt.
Lebanese pizza, or manoush, is a flat savory pie made in the style of the cuisine of the Middle Eastern country of Lebanon. Like most other pizzas, the Lebanese version is typically round and often includes cheese, meat, and/or vegetables with fragrant herbs. Unlike many other versions, this type of pizza has a pita bread crust. Lebanese pizza is often served for breakfast.
A strong-flavored salty cheese called halloumi along with crumbled beef sausage sujuk are popular toppings for breakfast pizzas in Lebanese cuisine. Due to the flaky texture of the meat, this Lebanese breakfast pizza can be eaten folded over so that the ground beef stays inside. The pita crust of all types of Lebanese pizza is made from flour, salt, yeast and water. Olive oil can be used to grease the bowl in which the pizza dough will rise before being shaped into a flat circle.
Zaatar, a blend of oregano and thyme, is a popular addition to manoush. Sumac is also one of the commonly used Lebanese spices. Meats in Lebanese cuisine are typically flavored to have some sweetness, and a common combination is cinnamon and/or allspice with lamb. Lebanese Lahmi pizzas are often made with a topping of minced lamb, with onions and allspice. Pomegranate-based molasses can also be used to add a sweet, rich flavor to meat or other pizza toppings.
Onion and allspice can also be used for a spinach-based Lebanese pizza. A lighter halloumi cheese similar to feta called shankleesh is often added to Lebanese spinach pizzas. A vegetable blend of chopped tomatoes, onions and peppers is sometimes used to cook Lebanese pizzas.
One type of Lebanese pita crust pizza topping is a fermented yogurt and grain blend. Lemon and chili powder could be used for flavoring. The bean spread, hummus, is also sometimes used as a pizza topping.
Like other types of pizza produced around the world, the Lebanese varieties are cooked in a very hot oven. They typically only take a few minutes to cook, as the crust is quite thin and the ingredients are usually crumbled, chopped, or finely chopped. Pizzas are usually sold in Lebanese bakeries where the oven can also be used to make pita bread. A spoonful of yogurt can be placed on top of the hot pizza just before eating.
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