This is my take on the delicious and super fun to prepare, Turkish pide, with meat filling.
What Is It?
Well Turkish pide is basically a flatbread that's topped with some type of filling and then baked in a brick oven. The filling can be of varieties of cheeses or different types of meat, infused with the wonderful flavours of Middle Eastern cuisine.
The flatbread is similar to what we are most familiar with, which is pizza crust.
Today I'm sharing with you my version of beef Turkish pide. Or some also refers to it as pizza boat.
I'm using my pizza dough recipe in a reduced amount. I love it because for me it's so easy and versatile. Ok back to our pide.
This recipes yields 4 pide. You can share one pide with your special someone and have some salad on the side. Or you can have the whole pide to yourself, some cold drink and just enjoy the weekend.
If you feel like having something similar-but-not-quite with no bread in the picture, do check out my beef kofta kebab recipe. They're great to go with some salad also. Easy delicious meal for the weekdays.
For this pide I'm using smoked paprika as one of the spices. Knowing that I'm going to oven-bake the pide instead of using the traditional brick oven, I want to incorporate that smokey taste and what's more appropriate than the smoked paprika. Being in Spain and smoked paprika is one of the famous spices here, I feel like it's a no brainer.
I'm also using chili flakes to spice it up a bit. You can use cayenne pepper powder with no problem. I would add more chili flakes if it was purely based on my Asian chili obsessed mind but you, by all means, adjust it according to your taste.
For the filling I'm using minced beef. But you can totally swap for minced chicken breast but just bear in mind that it tends to get dry easily. I would recommend to use a mixed of chicken breast and chicken thigh for the minced chicken.
Shaping the pide into a boat is not as difficult as you can see it yourself in the video. There's no method involved actually, except just folding each point and pinch the seams to secure them so that they don't open up while baking. I do recommend to fold the sides covering the filling more than you think you would want to, because the side will open up during baking.
Over covering the filling will ensure that you will still have nicely cradled filling when the sides open up, instead of totally flat sides and there's the filling in the middle. Not that nice, no? It's going to taste delicious still though.
Ok folks! I hope you give this pide a try. Adjust it to your taste, that's what makes cooking fun. Serve warm. Or hot, if you can take the heat. Enjoy!
More Flatbread Recipes
- Cheese stuffed naan
- Malaysian flatbread (roti canai)
- Murtabak
- Gozleme with spinach and feta
- Lebanese flatbread
Recipe Video
Beef Turkish Pide
Ingredients
The Bread
- ⅔ cup warm water (170 ml)
- 1 tsp granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tsp dry yeast (4 gr)
- 2 cup bread flour (260 gr)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
The Filling
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 red onion , cut into cubes
- 2 garlic cloves , chopped
- salt to taste
- 14 oz minced beef (400 gr)
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp chili flakes
- 1 large ripe tomato , around 7 oz (200 gr) peeled & cut into cubes
- 2 tbsp chopped parsley
Instructions
The Bread
- Add sugar into warm water and stir. Sprinkle yeast and give it one last stir. Leave the mixture for 5 minutes until it gets foamy.
- In a standing mixer bowl, add in the rest of the bread ingredients, including the yeast mixture. Mix to incorporate and then knead for 3 minutes. Form the dough into a ball and place it in an oiled bowl. Drizzle a bit more oil on top of the ball and coat it well. Cover the bowl tightly with a cling film and leave it in a warm and draft free place until the dough rises double its size.
- Meanwhile.. we can proceed with the filling.
The Filling
- Heat some oil in a pan on medium heat. Add in cinnamon stick, garlic and red onion. Cook for a few minutes until the onion is soft and golden brown. Then push everything to one side of the pan.
- Add in minced beef and sprinkle some salt on it. Break the meat into small pieces as you cook it. When it's almost cooked, mix it together with the onion. Then add in smoked paprika, cumin powder and chili flakes. Stir everything together and cook for 1 minute until the powdery taste is gone.
- Then add in cubed tomato together with its juice. Mix everything well and continue cooking for another 5 minutes or until the tomato is mushed. Finally add in parsley and give it one last mix. Turn the heat off and leave the filling to completely cool before using.
Assembling
- Once the dough has risen double its size, place in on a floured working surface. Lightly knead it into a log and cut it into 4 equal pieces. Form each piece into a ball.
- Take a ball and sprinkle some flour on top of it. Roll it into 9.5x4.5 inch (24x11 cm) oval shape. Place it on a baking tray with a baking sheet that has been sprinkled with some semolina beforehand.
- Take ¼ of the cooled filling and place it on the rolled dough. Fold the sides onto the filling and pinch the seams together at both ends of the dough. Repeat with the rest of the balls and filling.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 400ºF (200ºC) for 15 minutes or until golden brown and fully cooked. Sprinkle some chopped parsley on top and serve hot, enjoy!
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