Turkish Pizza ~ Pide

I bookmarked pide, the Turkish pizza bread when Pavani posted it during last month marathon and wanted to try it sooner before it got buried in my bookmarked folder. I decided to try it yesterday as my daughter was at home and she couldn't fathom the fact that her favorite pizza was getting a makeover in terms of shape. She thought it was plain weird though she forgot about it when it was time to taste it.  
I came across pide in all sizes and shapes over the web but a long canoe shaped one seems to be the popular one. The texture of the pide crust was soft, more like a bread. As in pizza, the toppings can change according to one's preference and I noticed that vegetables were added while baking and an egg went about 5 minutes before 
the final stages.
 
The toppings can be arranged leaving about 1/2 inch around the edges and then pides can be shaped. Pavani had suggested that shaping the pides after spreading the toppings would be easier and I tried following that method but I goofed up while shaping them. My daughter was going crazy chanting that she was hungry and I did not bother to look how it was shaped. I did not realize that I was supposed to just pinch the edges and somehow ended up overlapping the edges slightly over the toppings, resulting them to open up slightly instead of staying put, while baking. If the edges are pinched together not bringing the toppings in contact with it, the shape would retain. It doesn't mean that my pide ended up with another shape other than oval one or the toppings spill over. I would make the pides less wider next time and keep the rims thinner. My daughter didn't like the thick rim even though it had a soft, bread kind of texture and just left them out. I would also recommend making 3 instead of 2 pides for these measurements.

 Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
1&1/3 cup wheat flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. sugar
2 & 1/4 tsp. rapid rise yeast
2 tbsp. yogurt
2 tbsp. oil
3/4 to 1 cup water (I had to use about 1 cup + 3 tbsp. water.)
2 tbsp. milk (for brushing)
1 tbsp. seeds (Optional. Caraway, Sesame, Nigella or Mustard can be used. ) 
Toppings of your choice

Method:
* Combine all the ingredients except the milk and seeds, in a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Start with about 3/4 cup water and add extra water as needed to form a soft, pliable dough. (Add water in small increments and I had to add almost 1 & 1/4 cup water.)
* Knead the dough for about 6 minutes on a stand mixer or about
10 - 12 minutes by hand.
 
* Transfer the dough to a large, lightly greased bowl, cover and leave aside in a warm place for about 1 to 1½ hours or until it doubles in volume. (During winter, I preheat the oven at the lowest setting and turn off the oven. I leave the dough in the warm oven.)
* Gently deflate the dough and then knead the dough slightly. Divide the dough into 2 balls and shape them into oval shapes. Pinch the edges to form a rim, almost bringing it to a canoe shaped one.
 
 
* Cover the loaves and set aside for another 20 minutes to rise a  little more. (I totally forgot to notice this step and somehow ended up rising them only for about 10 minutes.) 
* Preheat the oven to 450 deg F and place the pizza stone or a couple of greased baking sheets in the oven.
* Brush the loaves with milk and sprinkle with seeds if using. (I skipped this step.)
 
* Fill the inside with the choice of toppings and slide each pizza onto the hot baking sheets and bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. (I applied pizza sauce and topped them with low fat mozzarella cheese. My daughter wanted just olives and the husband wanted hot peppers and that's what they got.)
* Serve them hot.


Check the blogging marathon page to see what my fellow marathoners are cooking for BM#52.

Comments

Monday 'Meals' ~ Naan Pizza

Flatbreads like naan, pita, tortillas or bagels / regular sandwich breads substitute greatly for a pizza base when you don't have one handy.  Especially if one is short in time / patience to start from the scratch or hop over to a neighborhood store to get a ready made pizza base. These naan pizzas or the bagel ones are almost equally good as the regular ones and takes a fraction of time to prepare since the base is ready. Naan pizzas have a desirable chewy texture and make a quick and filling meal. Vegetable / cheese toppings can vary according to one's preference and I have used my daughter's favorite toppings here.

Ingredients:
2 wheat naans
6 - 8 tbsp. pizza sauce
About 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
About 1/2 cup vegetable toppings of choice
Red pepper flakes (Optional and I didn't use any.)

Method:
* Preheat the oven to 400 deg F. Line the baking sheet with aluminum foil / parchment paper.
* While the oven is preheating, assemble the pizzas. Spread pizza sauce, sprinkle cheese and place the toppings on each naan. 
* Arrange them in the prepared baking sheet and bake them until cheese is melted and bubbly, about 10 minutes. (Red chili flakes can be sprinkled at the time of serving if used.)
* Serve them immediately.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 51

Comments

An InLinkz Link-up

Pizza Rolls

 

Here is one more yummy snack idea for the "Pizza" themed week of BM #43. I had used the dough that I posted on yesterday's post to prepare these yummy rolls which were a hit at home. Homemade or store bought pizza dough can be used. Even puff pastry sheet / bread dough can be substituted for the pizza dough. One can add their favorite toppings and seasonings. I am just giving the general directions below.

Ingredients:

Pizza dough

Pizza sauce

Mozzarella cheese

Any pizza seasonings (optional)

Cornmeal for dusting

Method:

* On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough into a rectangle, make dimples with your fingers and brush the surface with olive oil.

* Then spread pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese and seasonings if

using. Roll it into a tight log.

 

(At this point I chilled  the log for about 20 minutes as my pizza dough was very soft and I had read somewhere that it would be easy to cut the rolls without them falling apart when chilled.)

* Preheat the oven to 350 deg F. Sprinkle cornmeal over the baking sheets.

* Cut the log into one inch slices and place on the cornmeal sprinkled sheet.

 

* Place them in the oven and bake until slightly browned or for about 15 - 20 minutes.

Comments

Pizza Sticks

I usually make a rectangular shaped pizza and cut it into rectangles to make pizza sticks. Though there is nothing wrong with the taste of those sticks, I never found them appealing enough looks-wise to post it on the blog. For me they look like just rectangular shaped pizza slices with sauce and cheese oozing from all sides. I prefer neat looking individual sticks over them. I therefore decided this time to slice the rolled out pizza dough into rectangles before baking rather than waiting to slice after the baking part is done.

The dough I used for these pizza sticks comes from here. This recipe has become a recent favorite of us and I have been using it quite often for delicious, homemade pizzas. I used half of the dough to make cheese pizza and the rest to make about 13 sticks. For a quicker option, store bought pizza dough can be used.

Ingredients for pizza dough: 

1 cup lukewarm water

1.5 tsp active dry yeast

1.5 tbsp sugar

1.5 tbsp salt

2 tbsp olive oil (optional) 

2 & 3/4 to 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 

Ingredients for pizza sticks:

Pizza dough (above or store-bought)

Pizza sauce 

Mozzarella cheese

Vegetable toppings if desired

Pizza seasonings any if desired

 Dough preparation:
* Add sugar, yeast and salt to lukewarm water. Mix well to combine and leave the solution in a warm place for about 10 minutes. The mixture would turn frothy by the time. 

* Start with about 2 & 1/2 cups flour and go on adding extra as needed to form a smooth, soft dough.

* Using a mixer / a bread machine set on the dough cycle / hands, knead the dough until it's smooth and elastic, about 7 to 10 minutes.

* Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover and let it rise for 1 to 2 hours.

Making Pizza Sticks:
(I used half the dough I prepared from above measurements and divided it into two portions.) 
* Gently deflate the dough before using. Line a baking sheet with greased aluminum foil or parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 450 deg F.
* Place the dough ball directly on the sheet, shape it into a thin rectangle and slice it. If the end slices have contracted around the edges, just pull and reshape.

* Spread pizza sauce and sprinkle cheese over the slices. Arrange vegetable toppings and seasonings if using.

* Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake until the cheese bubbles and slightly browns.
* Remove from the oven and slice them along the previously made cuts.
* Serve immediately along with ketchup or marinara sauce.

These are on their way to BM# 43 under "Pizza" theme. Check the link to learn what other marathoners are cooking this week.

Comments

Bagel Pizzas

 

Bagel pizzas are made at my home now and then as they are my daughter's favorite snack item. They taste yummy and can be a quick alternative to the traditional pizza, especially when one is in no mood or have time/patience to prepare a pizza starting from scratch. Most of the kids love these and so they can be a great after-school treat. These take hardly any time to prepare and are quite easy to put together. Preparing these impromptu pizzas can be a great way to involve younger kids in kitchen. They get to feel all responsible by choosing their own toppings and preparing the bagels for baking.  

When I thought of making these bagel pizzas a few days back, my daughter took over the prep work. As expected, she decided that she would go with cheesy bagel pizzas for herself. However when I was topping the other batch of bagels with onion, olives and green peppers, she realized that she was missing her favorite olives and decided to add some on her cheese bagels. Below are the general directions for preparing these quick bites.

 

Ingredients:

Bagels

Pizza sauce / spaghetti sauce as needed

Shredded mozzarella cheese as needed

Desired vegetable toppings (optional.) 

Any pizza seasoning (optional) 

Method:

* Preheat the oven to 425 deg F / 220 deg C. Line a baking sheet with a parchment paper / aluminum foil.

* Slice the bagels crosswise. Arrange the bagel halves, cut side up 

on a baking sheet.

 

 * Spread a thin layer of sauce. Top with cheese and any vegetables if are using. Sprinkle the seasoning if using and place the baking sheet in the oven.

* Bake for about 8 - 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted and start to brown.

These are on their way to BM# 43 under "Pizza" theme. Check the link to learn what other marathoners are cooking this week.

Comments