Looking for a dinner idea loaded with vegetables, delicious, and fun to make? Then this Turkish flatbread called pide is for you! For this recipe I created a vegetarian pide made with spinach, mushrooms, onion, feta cheese, and red bell pepper for a little sweetness. The filling tastes divine, especially with the addition of sharp, tangy feta and a little heat from the Aleppo pepper flakes. I absolutely love pide! Even though this Turkish flatbread is sometimes referred to as Turkish pizza, there are noticeable differences between pide and pizza. Pide is shaped like a narrow American football, the dough is crispy on the outside soft and a little chewy on the inside. Unlike pizza, Pide doesn’t include sauce, but like pizza, it’s loaded with toppings, can be eaten out of hand, and is loved by almost everyone. If you’ve tried making other breads like focaccia or pita and you’ve never tried your hand at Turkish pide, then it’s time embark on this beloved meal and explore the wonderful variations of Turkish flat bread–from pide to gözleme to lahmacun and beyond!
What is Pide?
Pide is an oval-shaped flatbread common in Turkey and made with various meat or vegetable toppings. Throughout Turkey you can find pide shops called Pideci, that only bake these delicious flatbreads and serve them all day long. It’s one of the things I love the most about my homeland. In Turkey, where I was born and raised, we consider Pide our popular, “slow cooked fast food.” Pide has an ancient history. It originated in the city of Samsun, and Turkish people have enjoyed it throughout the Black Sea region since 1725. In my hometown of Antakya, locals prepare pide toppings then take it to the local bakery, called firin. The bakers would add the toppings to the dough, and bake it in the stone oven for each family. Growing up, I loved this ritual of taking our pide topping to the bakery then picking up our delicious, freshly baked pide later on—golden, delicious memories.
Variations of Pide
When making pide I place the toppings in the middle then fold the edges of the dough over just the outer portion of the filling so the ingredients are visible, however there are many ways to make pide.
Some people make bafra pidesi, where they enclose the filling with a thin layer of dough. Although, my pida is oval, it can be round as well. Trabzon pidesi is a popular variety of round pide. To make this, locals use a melting cheese, called Trabzon and serve it with a cracked egg in the middle. It is delicious!
What is in Pide?
Pide has a simple dough, the dough ingredients are:
Some of my Favorite Pide Toppings
Think of pide as the ultimate clean out the fridge dinner. The goal is to use up what you have on hand. This was as true 300 years ago as it is today, so please do keep this in mind and use up any cheese, olives, vegetables you have around the house! Here are some of my favorite toppings for pide to inspire you:
Cheese: We are cheese lovers in Turkey. Melting cheddar cheese, crumbled feta are popular pide toppings. We have a delicious stringy melting cheese called dil peyniri similar to grated mozzarella that can be great on pide too. Use up any cheese that you love and have on hand; goat cheese slices are fantastic on pide too. Turkish dried cured sausage, sucuk: Slices of Turkish dried cured beef called sucuk, is a popular pide topping at home, but it’s not that easy to find in the States. Sliced Spanish chorizo or your favorite cured meat would be a good substitution. Ground meat or small chunks of meat: Ground meat or small cubes of lamb or beef are also popular toppings. I like to sauté the ground meat or small cubes of meat with diced onions, and season well with sea salt and ground black pepper. Peppers, spinach, sautéed mushrooms, olives: I love vegetables over pide. Sliced red onions, sautéed peppers, mushrooms, spinach all work great as pide topping. Olives can be a nice alternative to cheese, combined with the vegetables. How about roasted peppers or marinated small chunks of artichoke hearts? They would be amazing as pide toppings. Pide with cracked egg: This is another specialty, also called Trabzon pidesi, as it originated from the city of Trabzon. Made with local melting cheese and butter in the topping, this pide is serve either round or oval. Toward the end of baking, locals crack an egg in the middle of this pide and bake for another minute. It is simply divine!
Tips for Making Turkish Pide Bread:
Turkish flatbread is really easy to make (even if you’re not used to yeasted breads). Just follow a few of my simple tips below for beautiful, delicious pide everytime!
Use warm water and a pinch of sugar when making the dough. It will help activate the yeast and confirm that your yeast is alive. Let it sit for 5 or so minutes. If the yeast is foamy then you can proceed. If it’s not, then your yeast might be old and you should wait until you have new yeast to make the dough. Make sure the water is between 90-110°F. If the water is too hot it will kill the yeast. Find a warm spot: Leave the dough in a warm spot to double in size. I place mine near a preheated oven. Always work on a clean, dry, lightly floured surface when kneading the dough and shaping the pide. Line baking sheets with parchment paper: Once the dough is rolled out into an 8×16-inch oval, place the pide on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Spread the filling over the dough. It’s easier to spread the filling and give the pide its final shaping once it’s on the parchment paper. Leave space to fold the border and pinch the end:. When spreading the filling evenly over pides, make sure to leave space around the edges as a border. Fold in the sides toward the filling to act as a border to keep the filling intact. Squeeze the oval dough at each end to make it pointy. Cool the topping before adding it to the dough: Make sure the topping is cooled down or at room temperature before spreading it over the dough.
How to Store, Freeze, Reheat Vegetarian Pide
Once baked and cooled down, slice pide and keep in the fridge, covered, for up to 2 days. Although, pide is best eaten when freshly baked; it freezes well too. To freeze pide: Wrap it in foil as a whole or in slices, in one layer and freeze. If you have a lot to freeze you can layer it between pieces of parchment then freeze it in an airtight container for up to 3 months. To reheat pide: Place the pide on a baking sheet and place in a preheated oven at 400°F for 6-8 minutes.
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