Turkish flatbreads with cheese, tomato, pepper with a cracked egg; Yumurtali, Peynirli Pide
Merhaba all; Pide, Turkish oval flat breads, are much loved at home; they are the ultimate snack and our “to go” food, our version of “Pizza”. Many of you kindly expressed that you enjoyed my Pide with Spinach, Peppers and Feta as well as Pide with Ground Meat and Vegetables with recipes here and asked for variations. Hence comes this new Pide recipe with cheese, tomato with a cracked egg in the middle, Yumurtali Pide.
This pide hails from the Kayseri region in Middle Anatolia, where locals would also use region’s wonderful delicacy, Pastirma – dried cured and thinly sliced beef over the topping. An egg would be cracked in the middle of each pide at the last 4-5 minutes of baking and then baked further until the egg is just set, delicious. I used medium cheddar cheese (kasar as we call it in Turkish) along with grated mozzarella at the topping, they worked well. The addition of warm milk at this dough made the crust slightly softer with still a nice texture to it.
SEBZE, Vegetarian Recipes From My Turkish Kitchen
I love pide; they are versatile and can be enjoyed all day. In my new book SEBZE, there is another version of Pide, Black Sea style, with cracked egg in middle, Trabzon Yagli Pide, with a lovely, soft buttery dough. You can get a copy of my cookery book SEBZE here.
Pide, Turkish flat bread with cheese, pepper, tomato with a cracked egg, Kayseri Style
I hope you enjoy this delicious, easy to make Yumurtali Pide; you can alter the topping and add on your choice of cheese or slices of dried cured beef or pastrami too. This wonderful Pide would also go down very well for Turkish style breakfast or brunch.
Afiyet Olsun,
Ozlem
- • For the dough:
- • 300 gr/ 10oz/2 ½ cups all-purpose plain flour
- • 7gr dried yeast
- • 5 ml/ 1 tsp. sugar
- • 5 ml / 1 tsp. salt
- • 4 fl. oz./112 ml/1/2 cup warm water
- • 2 ½ fl oz. / 70 ml / ⅓ cup warm milk
- • 45ml/3 tbsp. olive oil
- • 1 egg + 5 ml/ 1 tsp. olive oil to brush the pide
- • For the topping:
- • 60 gr / 2 oz. medium cheddar cheese, thinly sliced
- • 110 gr/ 4 oz. grated mozzarella
- • ½ medium tomato, deseeded and thinly sliced
- • ¼ green bell pepper, cut in half and thinly sliced
- • 2 eggs (one egg for each pide) to crack over pide topping
- • Red pepper flakes / Turkish pul biber to sprinkle over the egg
- Preheat the oven to 180 C/ 350 F
- Stir in the dried yeast and sugar in a small bowl and pour in ½ cup warm water. Dissolve and mix the yeast in water. Set aside for the yeast mixture to get frothy for 5 minutes.
- Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle and pour in 2 tbsp. olive oil and the yeast mixture. Also stir in the warm milk to the flour mixture. Using your hands, draw in the flour from the sides and work the mixture into a dough. On a floured surface, knead for 3 -5 minutes, until you reach a soft, smooth dough. The dough may get sticky as you knead, so pour the remaining 1 tbsp. olive oil and add a little more flour if needed to help shape into a soft dough.
- Grease a large bowl with a little olive oil, place the dough and cover with a cling film. Leave the dough in a warm place for 1 hour to rise.
- Once the dough is risen, place the dough on a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough for a minute then divide the dough into two pieces and roll into two balls. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough balls into 2 oval shapes of 20 cm x 40 cm (about 8”x16”), with ½ cm (0.2”) thickness.
- Line a large baking tray with baking paper and place the 2 oval flat bread dough on the tray.
- Spread the grated mozzarella cheese, cheddar cheese, sliced peppers and tomatoes evenly over the 2 flat breads, leaving 2 cm at the edges as a border with no filling (I’ve found it’s easier to spread the filling while the oval dough is in the tray). Fold in the sides to act as border to keep the filling intact. Squeeze the oval dough at each end to make it pointy.
- Beat an egg in a small bowl and mix it with 1 tsp. olive oil. Brush the edges of dough with this mixture. Bake for 18 minutes, until the pides golden and crispy at the edges.
- Take the pide tray out of the oven and carefully crack an egg in the middle of each pide. Return to the oven and bake for another 4-5 minutes; take care not to overcook the egg; it should be just set with the yolk still runny.
- Sprinkle red pepper flakes, Turkish pul biber over the egg, cut in slices and serve while warm.
My Turkish cookery workshop and exploring flavors at the Cactus Kitchens – Michel Roux Jr Cookery School
Fabulous Pide with feta, peppers and spinach made by the participants
It’s been an exciting and busy few weeks with some Food Consultancy and teaching Turkish Cookery to enthusiastic participants. It was a privilege to teach at the stunning Cactus Kitchens – Michel Roux Jr Cookery School. We not only made Pide, Ezme, Kisir and many more with the participants, we also explored creative use of spices, talked about current food trends and carried out innovative food workshops to explore exciting flavors – a very inspirational and enjoyable day.
Our Turkish Cookery Workshop at the Medicine Garden, Cobham – Surrey
Another very enjoyable Turkish cookery class, with recipes including the much loved Stuffed aubergines/eggplants with ground meat and vegetables, Karniyarik. This time teaching locally at the beautiful Blid & Hatton Gatherings in Cobham, Surrey – England. I love how love of food brings us all together and grateful for the food lovers keen to explore new, delicious flavors. More classes to come in Autumn!
Making Karniyarik, Stuffed Aubergines together
Spinach and feta filo pie, Ispanakli Borek is ready!
Karniyarik, Stuffed Aubergines were a big hit as always!
Delicious finish with Turkish Coffee
