Pide Ile Et-Turkish Pide with Minced Meat

Pide with meat or Pide Ile Et, a pizza with minced meat for a Turkish flavour. A healthy and simple flat bread with flavours of Middle Eastern food sans tomato sauce, basil and even mozzarella cheese.

My interest in the Turkish Pide grew when I came across the series “Turkish Delight with Allegra McEvedy.” A series aimed at discovering and getting a taste of real Turkish cuisine.

The Pide with meat recipe or Ekmek ve Et filmed was from the city of Konya in the Central Anatolian region of Turkey. The city of Rumi, the great poet, philosopher! It is very common in the cities in Central part of Turkey.

It might seem to be similar to Lamajun except that it is thin crust, no use of parsley, less amount of onions used and the ingredients are finely chopped(sometimes using a food processor).

It’s much easier to watch and remember a live recipe demonstration rather than google searching and  jotting down the same.

The simplicity of the recipe and the use of toppings made me more curious to try it in my humble chakhum(kitchen).

With each region having their own variations as per the local produce available in two different shapes (either flat oval or rounds).

Originally belonging to the Samsun area to the city of Bafra(Kiyamali or Samsun Pide), Pide is a flat bread with sesame seed seasoning with a filling of lamb, black pepper and onion in the dough to make a long French-stick shaped pide.

Making pide the traditional way ,the dough is left to rise for about 12 hours before being baked in woodfire clay-oven. It has to be soft and pillowy.

The fillings can be feta cheese, vegetables, lamb, suzuk (cured beef sausage) or local pastrami (raw meat brined then partially dried, further seasoned with herbs & spices which is then smoked and steamed).

At times an egg is broken on top towards the end of baking the pide.

Butter is the common ingredient that binds each region together, since it is butter not olive oil that is used in making a pide in the Black Sea region. Without it there is no flavour.

Every pide is brushed with melted butter for a satiny sheen before serving. And and extra serving of butter on the table just in case.

The result is an exquisite, light, crisp and intense filling Pide which epitomizes the Turkish emphaisis on clean flavours.

Loved the Ekmek filling of the Konyan version so tweaking it with the Pide bread recipe which I have come across in this site.

Serve it with Ayran which is a national drink of Turkey.

For the Pide bread I followed the recipe from here.

Pide Ile Et

Servings 4

Ingredients For the Dough

7 gm or 1 Tbsp Active Dry Yeast

1 tsp Sugar

1/4(for yeast proofing) + 3/4 cup warm Water(for dough)

2 1/4 cup All Purpose Flour

1 tsp Salt

2 tbsp Olive oil (for mixing the dough) + 1 tsp Olive oil

Pide Filling

2 cups Minced Chicken

2 tbsp Butter (or Olive oil)

1 small ripe Tomato, finely chopped

1 small onion, finely chopped

1-2 garlic clove, minced

1 tsp dried Pepper or Paprika flakes

1 tbsp Red Pepper paste, mild

Salt and Black Pepper Powder for seasoning

For Topping

1 small Red Bell Pepper, finely chopped

1 small Yellow Bell Pepper, finely chopped

For Glaze

1 tbsp yogurt mixed with 2 tbsp water

Method:

Filling Preparation:

1.Saute the onion with olive oil until it is softened, add garlic on medium heat.

2. Add the minced chicken, red pepper paste and toss.

3.Once the fat separates season with salt and black pepper powder. Then turn off the gas and put it a side.

Dough Preparation

1. In a small bowl, mix the yeast, sugar and 1/4 cup of warm water. Stir well for the yeast dissolves. Let it rest for 10-15 minutes till frothy.

2. In a large bowl, sift the flour and salt together.

3. Make a well and add in the yeast mixture and the remaining 3/4 cup warm water and olive oil.

4. With your hands  draw the flour from the sides and mix  into a sticky dough on a lightly floured counter.

5. Knead well for about 10 minutes until it becomes smooth and elastic (it should not stick to the bowl).

6. Then roll it in few drops of olive oil inside a clean bowl. Place the dough in it and turn it upside down to spread olive oil all the surface.

7.Then cover with a clean and damp kitchen towel. Put aside for about an hour or two in a warm place or until double in size. (I left it for 12 hours)

8. Place the dough on the lightly floured counter. Punch the dough with your hands to get rid of any trapped air.

9. Divide the dough in 4 pieces. Knead and give a ball shape to each, cover with a damp towel, and put aside for about 15 minutes.

10. With the heel of your hand flatten and stretch them into (or use a roller pin) oval shape base.

11. Divide the filling into four parts, spread on the each dough. Top each of them with some chopped red and yellow bell pepper.

12. Fold the long sides towards the inside, then twist the ends to give a boat shape.

13. Place oiled parchment paper or aluminium sheets on an oven tray, then arrange the pide on it. Brush some yogurt mixture along the edges.

14. Preheat the oven to 400 F (200 C). Place the tray on the middle rack and bake for about 15 minutes. Immediately brush butter or olive oil on the edges.

15. Once the edges are lightly brown and crispy, remove and brush some melted butter and serve with lemon wedges.

Note: You can also sprinkle nigella seeds and white sesame seeds on each Pide before baking.

Poach an egg(preferably little runny) with the sunny side up and top it on a Pide before eating.

For more interesting Pizza recipes check out the participating blogs of our #foodiemonday #bloghop family for our #41st event theme #pizzamania.