Turkish Pide or Turkish Pizza has been on my bake list for quite some time and I finally decided to create a sourdough recipe for this popular bread boat. I have based this recipe on my empanada dough (that don’t require leavening agents aka yeast) which is soft but stable and added sourdough starter to leaven the dough.
Like my most recipes, I like to call this a basic recipe which includes all the essentials and leaving some space for you to experiment with flavor. The dough and the filling both can be infused with different flavors. But first, give this basic recipe a go and then take it from there.
The Dough
This dough is slightly enriched than a pizza dough. It has got eggs, yogurt and some fat (ghee in my case) resulting in a soft crumb and slightly chewy exterior. You can add spices, dried herbs to the dough to give it some added flavor. To knead this dough, you don’t necessarily need a mixer but is recommended. I start mixing in the mixer and as soon as the dough comes together, I bring the dough out and knead by hand.
The Filling
This is the fun bit. The filling is completely up to you to decide. Browse the internet for some fabulous ideas both traditional and contemporary. Basically the filling contains two major elements. Some sort of a cheese that bake well in to a cream base and then a savory/herbaceous toping that does on top.
The cheese could be, fetta, cheddar, mozzarella etc.
The toping could be herbs, onions, cooked meat or vegetarian options like chickpeas, mushroom
It is always a good idea to precook the meat with all the spices to your taste before adding on to the pide. The bread base will only take about 15-20 minutes to cook. Some fish and shrimp could be added raw as they will cook faster when compared to poultry and meat. If you are adding vegetables or mushrooms pan fry them to remove some of the moisture to prevent the pide base going soggy.
With all that sorted out, lets get to the steps. It is pretty straight forward, you mix a dough let it bulk and slow ferment before dividing and shaping into the pides. Then it is just a matter of adding your favorite toping and baking. The recipe card is at the bottom o the post after the step by step pictueres.
My Sourdough starter is 100% hydration and was fed at 1:5:5 ratio about 4-5 hours prior to mixing.
The fat I’m using is ghee. You can also use butter, bacon fat or even oil.
I’m using plain full fat yogurt, but feel free to use Greek yogurt (with less fat is okay)
Add everything to the bowl of a mixer. Use the paddle attachment to bring everything together an then take the dough out on to a table and knead by hand until smooth.
If you have a professional mixer (with a high toke) feel free to use the dough hook and knead until a smooth dough is achieved.
This is my hand kneaded dough. It only took about 1-2 minutes to get it to this stage.
It is not necessary to get a ‘window pane’. The dough should look smooth and not sticky like shown in the picture
Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover and leave n a warm place until doubled.
Once the dough has doubled in size (after about 5 hours at 26°C) punch down the dough.
You can either let this dough cold proof (retard) overnight or go on to making the pide startight.
If you are retarding, place the punched down dough in a air tight container and refrigerate (up to 24 hours)
When you are ready to make the pides, take the cold dough out and divide it into 4 pieces and preshape them into balls.
Let these rest for about 15 minutes. In the mean time prepare the filling and preheat the oven to 425 °F
Make sure the filling is cooled down before adding
Dust the table and roll out the dough to an oval shape (length about 25 cm and 1.2 cm thickness). Do not roll out too thin.
Place the base on a lined tray and add the filling, leaving a boarder around.
Do not overload the base. Leave some room so the moisture can evaporate and the base is cooked through!
Fold the edges to secure the filling.
Egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds
Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until the edges are golden brown
If adding eggs, first bake the pide for about 10 minutes and then break the egg in, place back in the oven. Bake until the egg is cooked!
Serve warm!
Ingredients
- 350 all purpose four
- 1 tbsp. sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 heaped tsp ghee
- 70g sourdough starter
- 1 egg (55g)
- 60g yogurt
- 80g water (more if needed)
- Cheese of your choice
- filling of your choice
Instructions
- Make sure the starter is fed and active
- Place all the ingredients in a bowl of a stand mixer and mix using the paddle attachment on low speed
- When everything is hydrated ( no dry bits remaining) take the dough onto a floured surface and knead by hand until smooth. Will take about 5 minutes
- Place this dough in a lightly greased bowl cover loosely and place in a warm area until almost doubled in size (may take about 4-5 hours)
- Once bulked, punch down the dough and mold into a tight ball place in an air tight container and refrigerate for several hours for the slow fermentation (12-24 hours)
- If you don’t want to slow ferment leave in the fridge for only 2 hours (until the dough is stiff enough) and continue to make the pide
- If you have slow fermented, then take the dough out and divide into four equal pieces
- Preshape the pieces into balls and let them rest for about 10-15 minutes
- In the mean time you can prepare the filling ( make sure filling is completely cooled /room temp.)
- Preheat the oven to 425 °F
- Roll out each dough in to a 1/2 cm thick oval shapes (about 25 cm long)
- You can make them as long or as wide as you like (or to fit the pans you have
- Once rolled out, place the cheese and filling in the center leaving a gap around the border
- Fold the edges to secure the filling (check images above)
- Let these rest for about 15-20 minutes
- Egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds before placing in the pre heated oven
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the dough is evenly golden brown
- Serve warm
Notes
To store these: cool completely, place in an air tight container and refrigerate. Can be reheated in microwave or in a moderate oven (5-10 minutes)
