Karadeniz Pidesi

Ingredients

• 500 g strong white flour
• 300 ml warm water
• 7 g instant yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• 10 g salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 300 g minced beef, about 20% fat
• 1 onion
• 1 green pepper
• 1 tomato
• 1 tbsp Turkish red pepper paste
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp black pepper
• 150 g kaşar cheese
• 4 eggs
• 40 g butter

Before you cook

• Whisk the yeast and sugar into the warm water and leave it for five minutes until it foams.
• Mix the liquid into the flour with the salt and olive oil, then knead for ten minutes until smooth.
• Cover the dough and leave it to double in size for one hour.
• Finely chop the onion, green pepper and tomato.
• Grate the kaşar cheese.
• Knock the risen dough back and divide it into four pieces.

Steps

1. Set a frying pan over a medium-high heat with a splash of oil.
2. Fry the chopped onion for four minutes until soft.
3. Add the minced beef, break it up with a spoon, and cook for six minutes until the water has boiled off and the meat browns.
4. Stir in the pepper, tomato and red pepper paste and cook for three minutes more.
5. Season with the salt and black pepper, then tip the filling onto a plate to cool.
6. Heat the oven to its highest setting, at least 250°C, with a baking stone or heavy tray inside.
7. Roll each piece of dough into a long oval about thirty-five centimetres by twelve.
8. Spread a quarter of the cooled filling down the centre of each oval, leaving a wide border all round.
9. Scatter the grated kaşar over the filling.
10. Fold the long edges up and over the filling, then pinch the two ends together hard so each pide holds a pointed boat shape.
11. Slide two pide onto the hot stone and bake them for eight minutes.
12. Crack an egg into the centre of each and bake for a further three to four minutes, until the white sets and the crust blisters.
13. Bake the remaining two pide the same way.
14. Brush the hot crusts with melted butter, cut across into thick fingers, and serve immediately.