Pizza has become so divisive. Busting Chicago deep dish’s stones was already low-hanging fruit, while Totino’s Party Pizza maintains its ardent supporters. Ooni bros (the gearheads of pizza) love debating the minutiae of hydration percentages and fermentation times. But while everyone’s been arguing over tavern versus ranch versus Grandma style, Turkey has been out here putting pizza in little bread boats and I feel like maybe we’ve all just lost the plot a little??
Pide (pronounced pee-deh) is just one more example of how truly everything tastes better in a bread-canoe. It makes sense — just like they did with fried meat pies, various flatbreads with savory toppings were perfected by Ottoman cooks centuries before pizza was invented, let alone calzone. As the dish spread, it took on inflections of the cultures it met along the way: A pat of butter and a jammy egg yolk for the Georgian khachapuri, and for Macedonian pastrmajlija, cubed meat instead of ground or minced. Instead of farm cheese, a creamy rice porridge fills the rye crust of a Finnish Karjalanpiirakka (Karelian pasty).
Though spiced meat versions are pretty typical, here I’ve gone with whatever summer vegetables looked good or needed using — shaved zucchini and their blossoms, thinly sliced ripe tomatoes, sweet red onions and chives, minced spinach with strips of fire-roasted red peppers. Creamy fresh cheese, pinches of sour sumac and gobs of fresh herbs on it all.
Don’t worry too much about perfection here — this dough is very straightforward and forgiving, and if it looks too messy you can just tuck the edges under the cheese. If you have labneh and/or queso Oaxaca from previous weeks’ newsletter recipes, now’s a great time to break it out. Makes 4 pide.
Ingredients
Dough
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
¾ cups water
1 teaspoon sugar
A couple fat pinches of salt
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
Cheese mixture
8 ounces kasar, mozzarella or queso Oaxaca (I used a smoked braided string cheese)
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 ounces feta (and/or a couple labneh balls)
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
A few fat pinches of salt and pepper
½ teaspoon ground coriander seed
½ teaspoon ground cumin seed
Suggested toppings
1 cup chopped cooked spinach (from 6 cups fresh)
½ cup chopped fresh dill, parsley, lovage, cilantro, mint, or a mix
Olive oil
Lemon juice and zest
½ teaspoon sumac
½ teaspoon Aleppo pepper, gochugaru or paprika
A few pinches of salt and pepper
Thinly sliced zucchini (and blossoms), ripe heirloom (or halved cherry tomatoes) and/or red onions
Sliced roasted red bell pepper
1 egg, beaten
Sesame seeds and/or nigella seeds
Instructions
- Make the dough: Combine the dough ingredients in a large mixing bowl, then turn the mix out onto your work surface and knead until a springy dough forms, about 8-10 minutes (you can do this in a stand mixer with a dough hook). Return the dough to the bowl, cover and set it aside in a warm place to rise until doubled in size, about an hour to 90 minutes.
- Make the cheese mixture: While the dough is rising, use a food processor or a fork to combine the cheese mix ingredients into a smooth paste.
- Prepare the toppings: Stir about ½ cup of the cheese mixture into the chopped spinach, then add a few tablespoons or so of the chopped herbs. Whisk the olive oil together with the lemon juice, sumac, Aleppo pepper, salt and pepper, and toss the sliced vegetables in the dressing.
- Prepare the pide: When the dough has doubled in size, move one rack (along with a pizza stone, if you have one) to the oven’s lowest position and preheat to 450 F. Line a rimless baking sheet with parchment.
- Scrape the dough onto your work surface. Divide the dough into four balls, kneading each ball for a minute or two to wake it up and get it under control. Use a rolling pin to roll each ball into a long, narrow oval about 5 inches wide by 10 inches long, then move the ovals to the prepared baking sheet.
- Spread the spinach/cheese mixture onto one of the ovals and top with strips of roasted red pepper. Divide the remaining cheese among the remaining dough ovals, then add a sprinkle of chopped herbs. Lay the dressed sliced vegetables over the top of the non-spinach pide.
- Roll the edges of the dough inward an inch or so, just enough to make a lip to contain the toppings. Twist and pinch the ends to help the pide keep their long boat shape. Brush the dough with the beaten egg and sprinkle on the sesame and/or nigella seeds.
- Bake the pide on the bottom rack until the crust is brown and crispy and the cheese is bubbly, about 10-12 minutes. Let them cool on a rack for a few minutes before topping with the remaining herbs (as desired), then slice crosswise and serve.