Turkish Pide
Preparation time:
Cooking time:
Makes 8 individual pides
Dough
- 500g/1.1lbs bread flour (I added some wholemeal flour into the mix)
- 1.5 tablespoons instant dried yeast
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 275-300ml/9.7-10.6fl ozs. lukewarm water
- 25ml/1oz. olive oil
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1/4 cup olive oil extra for brushing
Filling (enough filling for 8)
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 large onion or 2 medium, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and diced
- 750g/26.5ozs. minced beef (not lean)
- 1 medium green capsicum, diced
- 1 medium red capsicum, diced
- 5 tablespoons capsicum or red pepper puree
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 3 small red chillies, finely chopped (use large if you don't want it too hot)
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 bunch parsley, chopped
- Grated cheese optional
- Tabasco sauce and lemon wedges to serve
Step 1 - Make the dough. Add the flour, yeast, sugar, 275ml water and oil (do not add salt yet). Knead on a lowest speed until elastic. Add more water if needed. Form into a large ball and then place in a large bowl (the mixer bowl will do) and cover with cling film and allow to rise until triple in size, about an hour. As it is Winter I placed it in an oven that I preheated to 50C/122F and then turned off.
Step 2 - While the dough is rising, make the filling. Heat the oil in a large frypan and add the onion and garlic and saute for a minute or two. Add the minced beef making sure to break up any large chunks. Fry for a couple of minutes, then add the capsicum, capsicum paste, tomato paste, chillies, smoked paprika, ground cumin, salt and pepper. Fry until cooked, about 5 minutes. Add 3/4 of the parsley reserving 1/4 of the bunch to decorate. Allow to cool.
Step 3 - Line three trays with parchment and preheat oven to 200C/400F. Punch down the dough and knead the salt in at the lowest speed. Allow to rest for 5 minutes and then shape into a log. Divide into 8 pieces and flour the bench well. Keeping the dough covered, take 1 piece and shape it into fat rectangle or oval. It doesn't really matter how long they are but I kept mine around the same size so I could fit them on the tray. Gently lift the dough rectangle to the lined tray. Fill the centre with the cooled beef mixture. Fold over the sides to enclose the mixture. Then brush the edges with the extra 1/4 cup of oil. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Add some fresh parsley on top and serve with lemon wedges.
Other fillings can include: sujuk and mozzarella, pastirmali (air dried Turkish beef), 3 cheeses and chives; hot salami, cheese & olives, cheese, egg & sumac.