Pide! A traditional Turkish flatbread. A simple yeasted dough, rolled out into an oval and topped and edged folded in. It is baked until perfectly golden! The pide is crisp on the bottom, and filled with whatever toppings you desire. I have filled mine with mozzarella, feta (beyaz peynir – white cheese) and spinach. Traditionally kasar cheese can be used instead of mozzarella or mild cheddar, you want a cheese that melts well. It can also be filled with seasoned ground beef, lamb or sukuj which is Turkish sausage. I made a few other pide rapini sauce, a mixture of cheese and parsley, hot pepper and of course some egg added on top, half way through cooking! This is a fantastic flatbread to add to your roster.
Turkish Pide
Ingredients
Pide dough
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 scant tablespoon active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 cup lukewarm water
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Extra olive oil to brush the pide edges or 1 beaten egg for an egg wash
Spinach Filling
- 1 cup of shredded mozzarella or mild cheddar
- 1 cup feta
- 1 ½ bags of baby spinach ~500 grams
- 1 small onion finely diced
- Small bunch parsley finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- ¼ teaspoon cumin seeds optional
Instructions
Spinach Cheese Filling
- Sautee your onion in a pan with olive oil until translucent.
- Add spinach and stir until wilted.
- Add a really small pinch of salt and season with pepper and set aside to cool.
- Mix spinach and onion with grated mozzarella, crumbled feta and parsley.
- Dough and Form Pide
- Bloom your yeast by adding it to your warm water and sugar and letting it sit for 10 minutes
- Mix together your flour, walt , bloomed yeast and olive oil.
- Knead for at least 6 minutes until dough comes together and place in an oiled bowl, cover with kitchen towel and let rise for 1 hour until doubled in size.
- Punch dough down, and divide into 5, form into balls and cover with kitchen towel to let rise for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 485 degrees.
- Roll out each dough ball on a lightly floured surface nice and thin, you can make it thicker if you like. Fill, fold, brush edges with egg wash or olive oil and bake on a baking sheet for 12-13 minutes. If adding egg, add half way through bake time.
