Pide (Oven-baked Flatbread)

Pide can be made with a wide-variety of fillings. Popular ones are spiced ground lamb, mixed greens and herbs, and cheese and egg. This version has an earthy mix of chard, spinach, green onions, and parsley. They are fun and not too complicated to make as long as you don’t mind playing with dough a little. We started calling them “dough boats”, “Turkish tacos”, or “green canoes”, they are such a fun shape it is hard not to get a little carried away.

We topped them with chopped olives and feta for a little extra salty kick. If you like things spicy you can always amp up the red pepper flakes in the greens mix as well.

We served these with a couple delicious salads: Anatolian Gypsy Salad and Turkish Shepherd’s Salad.

Pide (Oven-baked Flatbread)

Makes 6 large, stuffed flatbreads

For the Dough
1 ½ teaspoons (5g) active dry yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
1 ½ cups (360 ml) warm water
4-5 cups (520-650g) all-purpose flour, plus a bit for shaping the dough
1 Tablespoon salt

For the Stuffing
1 ½ pounds (680g) Swiss chard, spinach, or other edible green, coarsely chopped
1 cup (225g) cottage cheese
3-5 green onions, diced
1 onion, diced
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 packed cup (20g) minced fresh parsley
3 Tablespoons olive oil
Black olives, chopped or halved, for garnishing
Tulum or Feta cheese, crumbled, for garnishing

Make the dough:
1. Add the yeast and sugar to ½ cup (120ml) of the warm water, stir, and let sit for 5-10 minutes until foamy.
2. Pour the yeast mixture into a large bowl and add the remaining water.
3. Add the flour gradually, mixing to combine, one cup at a time for the first four cups (tip: add the salt after the first cup so it fully incorporates). Add in only as much flour as needed of the remaining cup of flour until the dough no longer sticks to your hands and forms a uniform ball.
4. Mix and knead until you reach a soft and uniform dough, about 8 minutes by hand.
5. Cover with a damp cloth and leave to rise on your work surface while you prepare the filling, or at least 30 minutes, preferably up to one hour.

Make the stuffing:
6. In a very large bowl, mix together all the stuffing ingredients. Let sit for 15 or so minutes to let the flavors combine and the greens to wilt a little.

7. Preheat the oven to 450° F

Shape the pide dough:
8. Divide the dough into six even pieces (or more for smaller pide).
9. Stretch each piece to the diameter of about 6 inches (15cm), using your fingers (with a little flour) and pressing along the outer edge to stretch the dough. To stretch, but not break, the middle, squeeze the center of the dough gently and pull the dough out to about 14-16 inches by 6-8 inches. Alternatively, you can use a rolling pin to roll the dough into an oval shape.
10. Set the dough on your baking sheet and top with the filling, leaving 1 inch of space around the outer edges. Pinch ends together to seal, then fold the sides of the pide in. For this filling, you can choose to leave the edges open, or seal the tops to better steam the greens.

Bake:
11. Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until the tops show brown spots. Brush the top of the dough with olive oil or butter as soon as it comes out of the oven.
12. Let rest for 10-20 minutes, before serving.

13. Top with chopped black olives and Tulum or feta cheese, if using.

Adapted from Essential Turkish Cuisines by Engin Akin