Turkish Food is calling my name

This was supposed to be a post about a card I made...two days ago, that is. It's ready: layered, stamped, embellished. 

But those couple of days all I could think about was Pide, a turkish cheese or meat pizza kind of food. I lived in Germany for 5 years, where there is quite a large community of naturalized turkish people. If you live there long enough to find places that serve authentic turkish food (not necessarily fine dining), then you are hooked!  All the vegetables and spices that abound in the Mediterranean region are right there in front of you.

My craving for the so-called Pide became so unbearable that I actually decided to do something about it. 

First, I asked James, my husband, if we can spare 1,000 dollars for a quick trip to Germany. For him, nonetheless. Well, I'm pregnant, so he's the one who gets to go and travel and have fun and all that. One little detail I expected for him to bring back was my Pide. For reasons that escape my logic, he wasn't so thrilled about the trip. 

I knew I had to come up with a new plan. I checked all turkish restaurants I could find online that deliver (no pun indented - I don't plan to deliver my baby in a turkish restaurant). The closest one was two hours away and no fresh food delivery. 

At this particular point, I felt alone against the world, so I knew I had to get aggressive. I went online and  searched for a Pide recipe that I could make at home. To my surprise, I found one that looked really good. One favor I had to ask my forever patient husband: that he goes and gets me some Feta cheese. From the HEB a couple of blocks away. 

Turkish Pide 

Here is the recipe:

For the dough:
3 cups of plain flour
1 tablesp sugar
1 teasp salt
2 teasp instant yeast (or 1/2 tablesp fresh yeast)
1.25 cup water

For the filling:

400 gr grated cheese (almost one pound)

1. Mix flour, salt, sugar, yeast and water in a bowl, knead until well-mixed. Cover, and let it rest for an hour until it has risen.

2. Set the oven to 400 degrees. Divide the dough into four pieces. (Rub some vegetable oil to your hands beforehand so that the dough is easier to handle). Using a rolling pin, obtain circular flat pieces. Then extend each piece from the sides, using your hands, and obtain oval shaped pieces.

3. For cheese pide, brush the flat dough with egg, sprinkle with grated cheese. 

4. Fold one in. of the dough from the sides. Bring together at the tips. Brush with egg. Cook on lightly greased oven trays at 400 degrees, for about 20 minutes until the dough starts changing colour, and the cheese is bubbling. When out of the oven brush with olive oil or butter before serving.

Saalam Alaykum ~ Peace be upon you!