Turkish Pide – Turkish Pizza With Lamb & Pomegranate

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I’m sure you’re thinking pizza??? what’s with the oval shape and the toppings without cheese? Well, the word pizza doesn’t necessarily mean the same thing in every country. Although every county in the world now has something they call “pizza”, there is a lot of interpretation to this global word. They know everyone knows the word pizza so it’s a good marketing tool.

There are many kinds of “pizza” in Lebanon and Turkey. Pretty much any kind of flatbread topped or stuffed with a filling is called pizza, although it may also have traditional local names. In Turkey, all of the different names like pide, bil-ajine and lahmacun are all referred to as a kind of Turkish pizza and are some of the most popular street foods in the country. The most popular fillings/toppings are usually lamb, spinach or cheese.

Other Lebanese/Turkish “pizza”:

• Whole Wheat Lahmacun
• Fatayer bil Sabanegh
• Manakish – Za’atar Bread

But let’s focus on pide.

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What is Turkish pide bread?

Pide Bread is basically Turkey’s form of pita bread. There are many

There are versions of this Turkish Flat Bread Pizza throughout the country made with a variety of toppings. There are regional differences to the topping. In some areas, lemon juice would be added instead of the pomegranate molasses. Pine nuts and bell pepper may also be included. So let’s go over some of the variety you can put into your Turkish Pide.

Although kiymali pide in its traditional boat shape is made with meat, there are many different forms of pide. Some are baked into a round shape and only topped with sesame seeds. The different varieties of bread pide are endless.

Variations

• Add 1 tablespoon of nigella seeds or sesame seeds to the pide dough.
• Use any kind of ground meat topping you prefer such as ground beef or even ground chicken/turkey if you prefer.
• Add fresh herbs to the filling including fresh cilantro, fresh mint or fresh parsley.
• Pomegranate Molasses is not always easy to source. If so, you can use lemon juice instead.
• Make it healthier by making the pide dough with wheat flour.
• For a traditional taste, make it in a wood fired oven, if you are lucky enough to have one.

How to make Turkish Pide

• Make the basic dough.
• Leave the dough to rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
• Now we make the delicious pide filling with the minced meat.

• Now we fill the dough with the spiced meat filling.
• Bake the pide for about 40 minutes.

• Then we garnish with the pomegranate seeds.

After the pizza’s are made, they are sold in slices on the street of Istanbul and throughout the country.

Combine with a salad and make it into a meal!

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