Brightland's Chef in Residence, Noreen Wasti, has shared a delectable new recipe for Turkish Cheese Pide with Chili, Honey, and Herbs. The warming, golden dish highlights our Awake Extra Virgin Olive Oil and new Wildflower Honey.
"Pide is a Turkish flatbread filled with various ingredients such as cheese, spinach, or spiced ground meat. It’s recognizable by its boat shape and is a staple in Turkish cuisine. The dough is really soft and pillowy making it quite simple to work with and put together. Traditionally a mild cheese like kashkaval or kasseri work best — these are available in most Middle Eastern markets and online. A mild cheddar or low moisture mozzarella are good substitutions. Generous drizzles of Wildflower Honey on the melty cheese right out of the oven is an incredible savory—sweet combo amplified by the spice from the Aleppo pepper. Serve alongside plenty of fresh parsley and mint." - Noreen Wasti
Combine the flour, yeast, sugar, salt, one tablespoon olive oil, and water in a stand mixer with a dough hook. Knead the dough until it comes together — it should be slightly sticky, elastic, and easily pull away from the sides of the bowl, about 5 minutes.
Drizzle the surface of the dough with olive oil and cover with a cloth. Let proof in a warm place for 1 1/2 - 2 hours, until the dough has doubled in size.
Preheat the oven to 500F.
Shape the dough into a log and cut into 6 equal size pieces. Form each piece into a smooth ball.
Roll each ball out into an oblong oval’ish shape using a floured rolling pin, dusting more flour as needed to prevent the dough from sticking. Each pide should roll out to about 12 inches long & 5 inches wide — they don’t need to be perfect nor exact.
Fill each pide with about a 1/2 cup of grated cheese leaving a one inch border on the sides. Top the cheese with Aleppo pepper. Fold the edges over and crimp the ends into a point — it should resemble the shape of a boat.
Brush the edges of the dough with olive oil and sprinkle with nigella seeds.
Carefully transfer the pide to a baking sheet (2-3 per sheet), leaving enough space between for expansion. Bake in batches if you don’t have multiple baking sheets.
Bake for 10-12 minutes until the dough is golden brown and the cheese is melted and bubbly.
Drizzle the pide generously with Wildflower Honey and serve immediately alongside stems of fresh parsley and mint.
