Taste of Turkey - Pide

The warm summer night in Istanbul, August 2010, was the very first time I tried pide. Maybe it was the magic of Turkey, but that night has changed my opinion of pizza once and forever. Pide is more than just a regular pizza. Try it at a Turkish restaurant or make it at home, and it will surprise you and your senses. 

This recipe yields 4 medium size pide.

For the dough:
3 cups plain flour
2 tea spoons instant yeast
1 tea spoon salt
1 tea spoon sugar
1.25 cup warm water
2 table spoons olive oil

First, warm the water in a microwave. It must be warmer than body temperature, or the dough will not rise. In a small bowl, mix in the yeast, sugar, and warm water. Stir well so the yeast dissolves. Let it rest for 15 minutes.

In a large bowl, add salt to the flour, then add the yeasty water in small batches while mixing it with a wooden spoon (or hand), add the olive oil.

Mix together until all the ingredients are well blended, and start kneading the dough. You can increase amount of flour, if you feel that your dough is too runny. But be careful not to add more than needed. Turkish people say it should be as soft as ear lobe (kulak memesi). When the dough is smooth, put a plastic bag over it and leave it for about 30 minutes at room temperature until it rises to double its size.

Tip: turn on your oven to 210 F for 10 minutes. Turn it off after 10 minutes and put your dough covered in the oven for 30 minutes. This will speed up the process.

While the dough is proving, you can start on preparing the toppings. See the choices of toppings below.

Once the dough has risen, take it out and knead well to get rid of air bubbles. Add a little flour on the surface and on top of the dough, but make sure the dough remains nice and moist.

Cut the dough into four equal pieces and knead them well. Place one of the pieces on a lightly floured surface, and use a rolling pin to roll it into an oval.

Spread your filling on top of the pide, and crimp the edges up 1-2 centimeters, so your pide has a boat shape. Brush the sides and edges with olive oil or a whisked egg, which will make it look golden brown and pretty after baking. Preheat the oven to 200-250C (400-500F). Bake on a lightly greased oven tray at 200-250 C (400-500F) for about 15-20 minutes (or until the dough turns into nice golden brown color and the cheese is bubbly). Take the pide out and brush butter or olive oil on the edges.

Filling:

You have several options here! If you are making pide for the first time, I advise you to make pide with each of the three fillings.

Lamb Pide
1 onion diced
1 lb ground lamb
2 small garlic cloves
Pinch of cumin
1 tea spoon of red chili flakes (or paprika if you don’t want it too hot)

½ cup of chopped parsley

Juice of half a lemon

1 table spoon of red pepper paste (biber salcasi - you can buy this in Middle Eastern, Turkish, or Greek specialty stores) or substitute with 1 table spoon of tomato paste

Salt

Black Pepper

Mix all ingredients and set aside for 15 minutes for meat to absorb all spices.

Alternatively, you can stir fry the meat with other ingredients in the olive oil on the heated frying pan. This is optional as the meat will cook through during baking. But if you feel better about using the cooked meat on your pide, fry it first. Just remember to cool your meat topping before putting it on the dough.

You can add some cheese on top or a long skinny green chili pepper for extra spice and presentation.

Three Cheese Pide

1 cup feta cheese
1 cup mozzarella
1 cup of cream cheese

Chopped parsley

Red chili flakes (or paprika)

2 eggs (eggs are used to make your cheese mix smooth and well blended. You can also use 1 can of chopped tomatoes sautéed with 1 teaspoon crushed garlic instead of eggs. Let the tomato mixture cook until most of the juice has evaporated, and then cool)

Don’t add salt unless you want your pide to be extra salty

Mix all the cheeses together, chili flakes and parsley, and add eggs (or if using the tomatoes, spread it on the dough first, before making a layer of cheese).

You can also add slices of cubanelle pepper and fresh tomatoes on top of your cheese pide to make it look extremely beautiful and appetizing.

Salami Pide

This is basically the same as cheese pide, but you can add thin slices of the hard salami (or sujuk - Turkish spicy salami). First, spread the cheese and then layer a few pieces of salami on top of your pide. 

I made three different pide - meat, cheese, and salami
Which one will be your favorite?