Turkish Lamb Pide
We would have this for staff dinner at The Engine Room (best staff dinners in town!) and it was one of my faves! Rich saucy lamb, salty feta and creamy yoghurt marry together to produce the tastiest of snacks all served on top of a crispy pide dough. Get the pide dough going about 2 hours before you want to use it. Alternatively make the day before and prove in the fridge over night.
Ingredients
(makes 3 pides/enough to feed 6)
Pide Dough
300ml warm water
2 tsp instant dried yeast
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
3 Tbsp olive oil
500g plain flour
Lamb Sauce
1 red onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tsp cumin powder
2 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1kg lamb mince
500ml tomato passata
Finish
200g feta cheese
200g natural Greek yoghurt
1 good bunch of picked coriander leaves
1 good bunch of picked mint leaves
a pinch of chilli flakes
a drizzle of olive oil
Prep It
Combine warm water, sugar and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer and set aside for about 10 minutes, until yeast is foamy. Add salt, flour and olive oil and attach to mixer with the dough hook. Mix on medium speed for about 10 minutes, until the dough comes together and is smooth. Alternatively kneed with hands. Remove dough from the bowl and lightly grease same bowl (to save on dishes!). Return dough to bowl, cover and set aside to prove in a warm spot for about 2 hours, or until doubled in size.
When dough has doubled, remove from bowl and divide into 3 equal size balls. Cover and leave to prove in a warm spot for about 2 hours, or until re doubled in size.
While dough proves prep lamb.
Finely chop onion and mince garlic. Heat a good drizzle of olive oil in a large pan on medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic and a good pinch of salt and cook for about 2 minutes, until translucent and soft. Add cumin, coriander and paprika and cook for about 30 seconds, until fragrant. Turn up the heat and add lamb. Cook for about 5 minutes, until browned and majority of the fat has reduced. Add tomato passata and cook for about 5 minutes, until thick and saucy. You don’t want it to be too wet here so that it’s sits nicely on your pide. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside to cool.
Cook It
Preheat the oven to 200°C and line 3 large oven trays with baking paper.
Lightly dust your bench with flour and place one of your pide dough balls in the middle. Roll out with a rolling pin into a long oval/boat shape about 3mm thick. Transfer to one of your lined oven trays and repeat with remaining pide balls. It doesn’t matter if your dough hangs over the tray as we will be rolling up the sides shortly.
When you have rolled out each pide its now time to roll up the edges. Starting at the short end, roll the dough up and over itself to form a little border crimping the edges as you go. You should end up with a boat shape to then fill with mince. Once you have created the borders, divide the lamb mixture evenly between each pide and spread right out to the edges. Crumble over feta and bake each pide individually (for best results) on the top shelf of the oven for 15 minutes. Transfer to the bottom shelf for a further 5-10 minutes, until the top and edges are golden and the base has crisped.
Serve It
Cool slightly on the tray before cutting into wedges. Dollop over yoghurt and sprinkle over herbs and chilli flakes. Finish with a good drizzle of olive oil.