What Is Gozleme?
Gozleme is a Turkish flatbread that has various types of fillings. They can be minced meat, veggies, mashed potato or spinach and cheese.
The dough is very basic and can be done with or without leavening agent (yeast).
Gozleme comes from the word "goz" in Turkish that means "compartments". It refers to the pocket structure of the flatbread.
These flatbreads are a common snack and street food among the Turks. And I can see why because they are so delicious!
My Spinach and Feta Gozleme
I LOVE making breads.
I know I keep saying it to you (don't get bored of me) but making bread is one of the most satisfying things to do in the kitchen (apart from deboning a whole chicken. Come on who else loves it, let's make a club please).
Another thing that I love is, Turkish breads!
And I've never been to Turkey. Nor my husband. Marco and I are really in love with Turkish cuisine and with all the travel and food videos that we've been watching in Youtube, we wish we can go there one day 🙂
So today I'm sharing with you my take on this wonderful Turkish flatbread that's called gozleme, with spinach and feta filling.
One thing that I get to know from reading about gozleme is, the dough doesn't use any sugar. Not even to help to activate the yeast.
Oh yes before I forget, this recipe is going to be with yeast for that soft fluffy texture 😉
Like I mentioned earlier, this is a very basic dough. It only needs flour, salt, water, yeast and yogurt. Yes yogurt is used to get that hint of tangy taste in the bread.
And as for the filling, it turns out that the filling can basically be whatever you want. Either savoury or sweet.
I'm going with the common filling which is spinach and feta, with some tiny adjustments 😀
You my friend, can make whatever filling that your heart desires.
If you like to try something new, do try these gozleme. Serve immediately after cooking and they're the best. Crunchy skin flatbread with soft texture in the inside. And let's not forget the filling.
Before you go, I will leave you with a few of my bread recipes that I think you should really try. You can find more recipes in my recipe page.
Enjoy and happy weekend!
Watch how to make spinach and feta gozleme in the video below:
Spinach and Feta Gozleme
Ingredients
The Bread
- 1 cup warm water (250 ml)
- 2 ¼ tsp dry yeast (7 gr)
- 3 cup bread flour (390 gr)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp yogurt (30 gr)
- ¼ tsp salt
The Filling
- 14 oz frozen spinach (400 gr)
- 1 onion , finely diced
- 7 oz feta cheese (200 gr)
- 3.5 oz shredded mozzarella (100 gr)
- 1 tsp chili flakes
- 1 tsp garlic powder
Instructions
The Bread
- Mix dry yeast with warm water and leave for 3-5 minutes for the yeast to activate.
- In a standing mixer bowl, add in the rest of the bread ingredients including yeast mixture. Mix to incorporate and then knead for 10 minutes. Form the dough into a ball and place it in a greased bowl and cover it tightly with a cling film. Leave until the dough rises double its size.
The Filling
- Thaw the spinach and squeeze out the water. Then chop into small pieces. Put the spinach in a bowl together with the rest of the filling ingredients. Mix well and set aside. TIP: Divide the filling into 6 so that you get equal filling for each bread.
Assembling And Cooking
- Place the risen dough on a lightly floured working surface. Lightly knead into a log and cut it into 6 equal pieces. Form each piece into a ball.
- Take one ball and roll it into a very thin square, around 10 inch (25 cm). Place some filling in the center and spread evenly, leaving around 2 inch (5 cm) empty space all around.
- Fold each side to the center, making sure you cover the filling completely. Cook in hot pan with some oil for 3 minutes on each side (or until golden brown). Brush with some oil before flipping the bread.
- Meanwhile continue with the rest of the balls, cooking them as you go. Cover the cooked gozleme with a kitchen cloth to maintain them warm. Cut and enjoy!
Hi Bea, sorry to ask silly questions again could I use flat bread of filo pastry instead?
Hi Kristal! I haven't tried it with filo pastry so I can't really say, sorry!
Can we bake it also. ?? If yes , how ??
I haven't tried baking it so I can't really say, sorry!
Ooh, these were so good. Everybody loved them. Hopefully with practice, I’ll be able to make them as thin as you have. My early ones were thick but, of course, still very tasty. Thanks for sharing.
Happy to know that you loved them Andrea! I know some gozlemes are even thinner than mines but at the end as long as they're good, it's totally fine, right? Thank you!
Hi Bea,
Thank you for the delicious recipe! I’ve made the dough and it’s already doubled in size, but it’s not dinner time yet. Should I keep the dough in the fridge until I’m ready to use it?
Also for future reference, can you refrigerate or freeze the dough for future use?
And one last thing, is this bread still as good if you reheat the final product the next day?
Thank you!
Hi Sophia! Yes, keep it in the fridge. What I do is cook them all and then freeze. Hope it helps!
These came out absolutely amazing! Thank you 😊
I never rate these things.
But it's good and ez to follow.
Took maybe an hour start to finish. But you can pre make the dough freeze.
10/10
I used more salt on the second go in the dough and filling.
Awesome Aaron, glad to know that you liked it. Thank you for your feedback!
It’s easy to make and delicious. As Bea says, you can fill it with whatever you want. I love spinach and cheese, but the second time I made it I added prosciutto. I will experiment with other fillings too. Great recipe.
Awesome Carol! Proscuitto sounds great, thank you for your feedback!
Great recipe, easy to follow and tasted good!
I'm happy to know that you liked it, thank you!
Just made them and ate two in a minute, delicious! Perfect dough, really makes the difference! Fresh garlic instead of powder and no chilli; as you mentioned already, fill them with whatever you like.
Haha! And yes, the filling is whatever we desire! Thank you so much Ioana!
Nutritional info?
HELLO CAN I FREEZE THE DOUGHT
Amazing recipe! Cooking gozleme for today’s iftar. Ramadan 2020 Mubarak !
Awesome! Happy ramadan to you Marta! Thank you!
Thank you so much for this amazing recipe. I made it twice and also today I’m going to make it for Iftar( breaking fast meal)!
I had a question, If I have extra can I refrigerate half of the dough to make next day ?
Thanks again..
Assalmualaikum Afshan...I'm no expert...but have saved my extra dough for the next day. Makes a good iftaar meal as it is light.
What an inspiring new approach (for us) to bread, and what fun while we are on 24 hour lockdown in Saudi. My calzones have been too 'bready' and this is much easier than spanakopita. And as you say, so flexible on the fillings. Our next batch will be with ground chicken, cheese and herbs. Thank you!
We use to buy this type of food in the streets of Riyadh when we worked there ,,love this food
Wow! This was SO delicious! We didn’t have Greek yogurt, so I used cream cheese for my initial trial, and the dough came together perfectly. Can’t wait to try it with yogurt next! Thank you so much for sharing! Delish!
Hey that's great! Thank you for your feedback and sharing your take on it. I'm glad that you liked it 😍
These look amazing. ? Can you bake them in the oven.?
Thanks Marie! I always cook them on the stove but I'm thinking yes why not. They might puff up a tad differently but hey, if you don't mind so.. 😉
The best dough I have made, in the filling I would only put half the chilli as it overpowers the taste. I would use fresh garlic instead of the powder, and a bit of lemon juice. We really enjoyed these and I would make them again. Thanks for the great recipe.
Hi Linda! I'm happy to know that it turned out great for you. Yes, adjust the filling to your likings with no problem. Thank you so much!
I had gozleme once and it was thinner. Besides that yours is as tasty. Good job. Thank you.
Hi Nasam. Yes you can roll it your preference thickness, no problem at all. Thank you! 🙂