:: Turkish Pizza Recipe!

This has to be one of my favorite Turkish street foods.  I got the great opportunity to watch how they are made, not out of choice, I might add!  We had ordered 2 of the pizza’s at this little restaurant right beside the local mosque in Fethiye, and the owner spotted me taking pictures around the place earlier.  He quickly dragged me in to the kitchen, full of pride and instructed me to take pictures of the pizza’s being made!

Not that I was complaining, the guy who was doing the cooking, gave me a full demonstration and from the speed he was producing the pizza’s, it was pretty clear that he had done this before!  The small pieces of dough are rolled out into long thin oval shapes and then a mix of meat, egg and herbs is placed on top.  The dough is then folded in towards the centre to form a chewy crust.  Don’t let the idea of pizza throw you, this is nothing like it’s Italian cousin.  The recipe here is adapted from a Turkish cook book, with the advice of the Fethiye pizza maker, thrown in for good measure!

Turkish Pizza (Pide)

1. 5 Cups of Flour.
2. 4 Tablespoons of Butter.
3. 1 Sachet of Active Dried Yeast.
4. 2 Tablespoons Of Milk.
5. 1 Teaspoon of Salt.
6. 1 Teaspoon of Sugar.
7. 3 Eggs.
8. 250g Minced Lamb.
9. 1 Beef Tomato, finely chopped.
   
10. A Good Handful of Coarsely Chopped Parsley.
11. 1 Medium Onion, finely chopped.
12. A Good Pinch Of Salt and Pepper.

Warm the milk and stir in and disolve the yeast and sugar. Sieve the flour into a large bowl and make a small well with your hands.  Pour the yeast milk and sugar mixture into the well, with the butter, Salt and 2 eggs.  Combine the mix until you have a rough dough.  Turn the dough out and knead until it is nice a soft.  Set aside under a damp tea cloth to rise for about 45mins.
Mix the minced lamb, 1 egg, tomato, onion, salt and pepper, in a bowl and set aside.

When the dough has risen, seperate into egg sized pieces and flatten them into long oval shapes on a floured surface.  Place the meat mix in a long line, on the dough and make sure to leave about 2cm on either side for the crust.  Fold the dough in on either side and place in an oven for 10 minutes, at 240oC.

Serve straight away and slice into smaller pieces.