How To Make Turkish Pide

Turkish Pide which is pronounced as “pee-DEH” is a delicious savory flatbread that is formed into a boat-like shape and baked in the oven on a stone. They are one of my favorites to make and you can eat them for breakfast, lunch or dinner. I ate these daily during my trips to Turkey and love the the ones filled with cheese and spinach. I baked these Pide’s in the oven on a pizza stone. But if you dont have one, no worries you can just place a baking sheet in the oven for 20 minutes to heat up and transfer the Pide to cook on the sheet.

These Turkish flatbreads can be topped with anything and are a great appetizer to enjoy with any meal.

Turkish Pide Dough

There are so many different types of Pide recipes out there. This dough is really easy to make and is dairy free. My mom loves making the dough with milk or egg, which yields a richer tasting dough — but I really think keeping the dough simple but delicious is the best way to go. The olive oil in this dough recipe gives enough taste and richness to the dough without having to add any dairy or additional ingredients.

Dough Ingredients: Water, Yeast, Sugar, Salt, Bread Flour, Olive Oil.

Turkish Pide Toppings

You can top the Pide with anything, But the most common toppings are mozzerlla, ground beef or lamb, eggplant tomato mixture, spinach onion and sumac.

My favorite is with mozzerlla and then brushed with some melted butter. SO GOOD and very addicting! Feel free to play around with the toppings and make your own Pide!

How to Form the Pide

Step 1: Once the dough has doubled in size, transfer onto a flour surface and form a log and divide the dough into six pieces. You will be working with one dough piece at a time — so make sure to keep the remaining dough pieces covered really well to prevent it from drying out.

Step 2: Lightly flour a clean surface, begin rolling out one piece of dough into a large oval. If you start to notice that the dough is not stretching well, cover with a tea towel and allow the dough to rest for a couple of minutes to relax the gluten.

Step 3 : Place about 1/2 cup of filling for each Pide but feel free to add more or less but just make sure to leave about 1/2-inch border on the sides empty.

Step 4: Now, fold the edges of the dough over the filling and then pinch or twist the ends to form a boat or canoe-like shape. If you notice that the ends are not pinching together add a little bit of water one on end of the dough and that should help. Brush the outer dough with an egg wash or lightly brush some olive oil. Sprinkle some sesame and black seeds and repeat this step with the remaining dough. 

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How to Make Turkish Pide

Course Appetizer

Cuisine Mediterranean

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Resting Time 2 hours hours

Ingredients

Pide Dough

• 3 cups Bread Flour plus more for kneading the dough
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast or instant yeast
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon sugar or honey
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 &1/3 cup water

Pide Toppings

• 2 cups Fresh Shredded Mozzarella
• 1 cup Spinach, Onion and Sumac Filling optional
• 1 cup Cooked Spiced Ground Beef or Lamb Filling optional
• 1 cup Spiced Eggplant and Tomato Filling optional
• 1 cup Feta and Chopped Parsley optional

Spinach Filling

• 2 cups organic baby spinach
• 1 teaspoon sumac
• salt to taste
• black pepper to taste
• 1/2 yellow onion chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon chili pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• feta optional

Instructions

Turkish Pide Dough

• In a bowl or stand mixer, add the warm water, sugar or honey and yeast. Mix and allow the mixture to bloom for 5 minutes until the edges get foamy around the edges.
• Now, add the flour and using a wooden spoon, mix. Transfer the dough onto a clean well floured surface and knead the dough for a couple of minutes. I used about 3 additional tablespoons of flour while kneading the dough. The dough should be slightly sticky but soft.
• Place the dough in a large bowl and drizzle a little bit of olive oil on top and cover the dough with a plastic wrap and a tea towel. Place the bowl in a warm place to rise for about 1-2 hours or until double in size.

Spinach Filling

• In a pan, saute the onion with some olive oil. Then add the spinach and stir until the spinach has wilted. Now add some sumac, salt, black pepper, and chili pepper. Taste and any additional seasoning to your liking. Transfer to a plate and allow to cool before using.

Forming the Pide

• Place a baking sheet or pizza stone in the oven. Preheat the oven to 500 or 550F. Try and heat the stone for at least one hour. 
• Once the dough has doubled in size, transfer onto a floured surface and form a log and divide the dough into six pieces. You will be working with one dough piece at a time — so make sure to keep the remaining dough pieces covered really well to prevent it from drying out.
• Lightly flour a clean surface, begin rolling out one piece of dough into a large oval. If you start to notice that the dough is not stretching well, cover with a tea towel and allow the dough to rest for a couple of minutes to relax the gluten.

  Continue this step with the remaining 5 pieces of dough. Note: Make sure to keep every stretched dough covered well to prevent it from drying out. This is very important.
• Once you have stretched out the doughs, place it in on a parchment paper. I baked three Pide at a time. This depends on how large your baking stone is — So place two or three Pide dough on a parchment paper and brush it with some olive oil and top it with any type of filling.

  I placed about 1/2 cup of filling for each Pide but feel free to add more or less just make sure to leave about 1/2-inch border on the sides empty.
• Now, fold the edges of the dough over the filling and then pinch or twist the ends to form a boat or canoe-like shape. If you notice that the ends are not pinching together add a little bit of water one on end of the dough and that should help. Brush the outer dough with an egg wash or lightly brush some olive oil. Sprinkle some sesame and black seeds and repeat this step with the remaining dough. 

Baking the Pide

• Place the parchment paper over the pizza stone or baking sheet and bake for about 12-14 minutes or until lightly golden along the sides.
• Once baked, place on to a wire rack or wooden board and for the cheese Pide, I love brushing it some melted butter and garnishing with some chopped parsley.

  Slice into pieces and and ENJOY!