Turkish Lamb, Fetta and Spinach Melts

Tonight was something of a home-made take away. It was really simple, with very few ingredients, and nothing too tough. Only thing is that you need a sandwich press for it to work properly. I have tried to make Turkish food before, and it was completely bland. But this was something special.

So, you need (clockwise from left): three pieces of lebanese flat bread, 400g of lamb mince (I used 250g of lamb and 150g of beef, because I didn't have enough lamb), two tablespoons of olive oil, two tablespoons of tomato paste, two teaspoons of cumin seeds (not ground), one tablespoons of currants, 3/4 cup of water, 60g of baby spinach or regular spinach, an onion chopped finely, two crushed cloves of garlic, and 100g of fetta.Warm up the oil over low heat, and cook the onion for about 8 minutes or until golden. Then add the garlic and the cumin seeds, and cook for a couple of minutes.Add the meat, turn up the heat, and cook until browned (about 4 or 5 minutes). Then add the tomato paste and water and stir all together. Bring it to the boil, then reduce to a simmer, and leave it for twenty minutes. Once all the water has boiled off, and you are left with a meaty, oily, delicious remainder, stir in the currants, take it off the heat and add some salt and pepper.Arrange the flat breads on the bench, pile on some of the meat on each:Then the fetta:Then the spinach.
Finally, fold them in half to make a sandwich, and put them in the sandwich press and squish them flat, and cook on a highish heat for a few minutes until they have nice brown toasted lines on them. Don't even think about wiping off the oil between each sandwich.

Result
This meal was really, really tasty. Something about cheese melted into tasty meat just renders me helpless. The spinach lent some great colour and a bit of crunch, and the fetta gave a bit of bite.

One great thing was that with each successive toasting, the bottom of the sandwich became a little bit fried in the oil from the previous sandwich, and ended up being unbelievably crunchy and delicious.

The cumin is what makes it 'turkish'. This is the spice that forms the basis for that smell of turkish food, like kebabs and so forth. You can't really leave it out, but you could probably enhance it with some different spices, like some cinnamon (which would go well with the currants) or some oregano or thyme (which would add a layer of complexity without overpowering it).

The currants are worth mentioning - while a very minor part, occasionally you'd get a little burst of sweetness.