Every time I prepare this; Pide with Meat / Kavurmalı Pide at home I am praised by everyone. Here is my recipe with all the tips and tricks, do not miss this.
What is Turkish pide made of?
Turkish Pide is a pizza-like, but flat oval-shaped bread prepared with various toppings. You can choose among common toppings such as ground meat, various cheese, mushrooms, corned beef, spinach and all of them can be prepared with or without an egg on top.
How to start the yeast?
Whether you are using fresh or instant yeast first mix the yeast with sugar, milk and water. They should both be warm, but not boiling. You should be able to just barely stick your pinky finger in. If you have a thermometer it should read 30-35° Celsius (90° F) If the milk and water are not warm enough the yeast will not activate enough and your dough will not be puffy. Whisk the yeast mixture and a teaspoon of sugar until bubbly and set aside for 5 minutes and then add to the flour.
How to prepare the dough?
Pour 3/4’th of the flour in a large mixing bowl. Pour the yeast mixture into the middle. Start mixing with a tablespoon. Also, add the salt at this stage, but not directly on the yeast mixture, add it on top of the flour. It is better if you sift the flour, but it is not a must. If you are not using a kneading machine, first mix with a spoon, later use your hands as the mixture will be less sticky.
Then add all the dough ingredients one by one while kneading. Once you obtain a soft and non-sticky dough stop adding more flour. Knead about 10 minutes or until you obtain the look in the below picture. Then turn the dough into a large ball. When you poke a finger into the dough if the hole immediately starts to close, it is proof that your dough is ready. Sprinkle all over with additional flour so that it is not sticky.
Cover the dough with a clean kitchen towel or a cling film. But just cover, do not wrap all around as the dough will need some space to expand. Set aside in a warm place for at least half an hour and wait for the dough to grow. If you do not have a warm spot available in your kitchen, pre-heat your oven to 40° Celsius (100° F), then close the heat and place your dough bowl, covered as described in the middle rack. After half an hour this hit how grown dough looks like! I am amazed every time.
How to prepare the meat topping?
Meanwhile, prepare the filling according to the recipe. The tip for this is to cut the meat into small pieces. The meat is beef braised in its own fat. You can find it in most markets all around Turkey. Some people even prepare their own. You can buy as much as you need and ask the seller to cut it for you. It is already cooked, so you can heat it and serve it. Some prefer to eat it cold too. It is called “kavurma” in Turkish.
If not in Turkey or you do not have a Turkish market near you, you can choose to buy corned beef slices from the cooked meat sections in supermarkets.
How to shape the pide?
When time is up and the dough has expanded, knead for an additional minute to get its air out, sprinkle with flour if necessary. Then cut – not tear – into equal pieces and make small balls out of each cut. Then using a rolling pin spread it few times in the same direction. You can flip upside-down, but do not rotate. Traditionally you need to obtain an oval shape. Then put a thin layer of the meat filling on top, leave the sides clean for about 2 centimetres. Curl the sides inwards. Stick the corners. You can make it hand-size or larger.
You can sprinkle with grated mild cheddar if you choose to. If you have time, rest the pide for about 15 more minutes while still on the baking tray before heading to the oven.
Bake in a preheated oven at 200° Celsius (400° F) for about 20 minutes.
When cooked the pide might open up like a boat, this is totally fine, but if you do not want this to happen, before putting the pide into the oven pat down the pide to flatten with the back of a spoon.
Serve with a salad such as Crushed Tomato and Pepper Paste/Ezme or Carrot Meze with Yogurt.
I used this recipe in many of my cookery classes, so I can confidently say it is a very safe recipe. Enjoy while warm.
Pide with Meat
Ingredients
Dough
- 20 gram fresh yeast or 10 grams instant yeast
- 100 millilitres warm water
- 100 millilitres warm milk
- 400-500 grams flour
- 1/2 tablespoon plain yogurt
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 egg white
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
Garnish
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
Filling
- 250 grams beef meat braised in its fat
- 1 tomato
- 1 red pepper
- 1 green pepper
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 5-6 stalks parsley
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Place the milk and water in a small bowl. The warmth should be around 40° Celsius. You can also measure with your pinky finger. If you can barely keep it in for 10 seconds it is at the correct warmth. Add the yeast and the sugar. Whisk with a fork or spoon. Make it bubbly, set it aside for 5 minutes to activate.
- Put ¾ of the flour in a large mixing pot and pour the yeast mixture in the middle.
- Start to kneed. Add all the other crust material one by one, kneed gently. The dough should become non-sticky. Neither too hard nor too soft. Use the remaining flour if necessary. Kneed about 10 minutes.
- Turn it into a large ball. Sprinkle with some flour on top and bottom, so it does not stick. Cover with a clean kitchen towel or stretch film. Set aside for at least 30 minutes in a warm place.
- Meanwhile, chop all the peppers and the tomato into small cubes. Add to a saucepan together with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil. Sauté all together for 2 minutes.
- Chop the meat into tiny pieces and add to the vegetables to heat.
- Add all the remaining filling ingredients together and mix well. Remove from heat. Your filling is ready.
- When time is up uncover the dough, if you notice the dough has expanded and there are cracks on it; it is a sign that the dough is ready.
- Knead it again for a minute to let the air in it get out.
- Then cut the dough to make small balls a bit bigger than a walnut-size. Cover with the kitchen towel again when not using.
- Take a ball, sprinkle with some flour and then using a rolling pin obtain a flat oval rectangular, a bit larger than a hand. Do not switch sides, it will be easier to get this shape this way. Make long oval thin sheets from each dough ball.
- Spread just enough filling on top of the sheet, leave the sides clear. Do not put too much filling or else the pide will get soggy. Then curl corners and flip sides inwards so the filling does not spill around while being baked. Pat on top with the back of a spoon to make it flat.
- Set aside in the tray for additional growing for about 15 minutes.
- In a small bowl mix the egg yolk and olive oil. Then using an egg brush spread this mixture on the side and corners of each pide.
- Bake until golden brown on top and bottom in a preheated oven at 200° Celsius (400° F); for about 20 minutes.
Notes
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