Ingredients

Serves 6

Turkish Pide
1 tablespoon of dried yeast
A pinch of caster sugar
375ml warm water
480 g strong bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
60 ml extra-virgin olive oil
2 free-range eggs
50ml milk
Nigella or sesame seeds

Cheese, Egg and Onion Pide Pie
1 quantity Pide dough (or pizza dough - see below)
250g haloumi, washed and finely sliced
150g mozzarella finely sliced
1 heaped teaspoon ground sumac
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon dried mint
4 shallots, finely sliced
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 free range egg yolk
50 ml milk
6 free range eggs
Sea salt

Method

For the pide:
Dissolve the yeast and sugar in 125 ml of the warm water and set aside in a warm place for about 10 minutes until frothy. Use your fingers to work 90 g of the flour into the yeast to make a sloppy paste. Sprinkle lightly with a little flour, then cover with a tea towel and set aside in a warm place for 30 minutes to form a 'sponge'.

Put the remaining flour and the salt into a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and add the sponge, oil and remaining water. Use your fingers to work it to a soft, sloppy dough. Don't panic: it is meant to be very sticky!

Transfer to an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook and knead on a low speed for 10-15 minutes until very smooth and springy. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, then cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rest at room temperature for 1 hour or until doubled in size. (From this point you can proceed to bake the pide bread or filled pide boats.  You can also refrigerate the dough until you are ready to use it.  It will keep for around 24 hours, but take it out of the refrigerator a good 3 hours before you want to use it, to give it time to return to room temperature slowly.)

When ready to bake the bread, preheat the oven to it's highest setting with two pizza stones or oiled baking sheets in it. Divide the dough in two, then form into rounds and leave, covered, to rest for 30 minutes.

Mix the eggs and the milk to make an egg wash. Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Use the heels of your hands to press and flatten each piece of dough out to a 20cm oval. Brush the surface liberally with the egg wash. Dip your fingertips into the egg wash and mark rows of deep indentations across and down the length of the dough, leaving a narrow border.

Now comes the tricky bit. Lightly flour the hot pizza stones or trays. Lift on the pides, stretching them gently and evenly. Sprinkle with nigella or sesame seeds and bake for 8-10 minutes until crisp and golden brown.

 

For the pie:
Cut the dough into 6 even portions and leave, covered, to rest for 30 minutes.
When ready to bake the pide, preheat the oven to its highest setting with two pizza stones or oiled baking sheets in it.

To make the topping, mix the cheeses, spices, mint, shallots and oil in a large bowl.
Roll each portion of dough on a lightly floured work surface to form a long rectangle, around 35x10cm.  Scatter a sixth of the cheese topping down the pide, leaving a 2cm border around the edge.  Make a shallow indentation in the topping down the middle of each pide.  Quickly fold up the two long sides of the dough, bringing them up and over the topping, but without meeting in the middle.  Squeeze the sides together at each end, twisting slightly, so that the pide looks like a long canoe.  Mix the egg yolk and milk to make an egg wash, then brush the dough with a little of this.  Carefully transfer two pides to the hot stones or trays and bake for 5 minutes.

Crack one of the eggs into a small bowl and break the yolk.  When the 5 minutes is up, open the oven door and carefully slip the egg into one of the pides so it runs naturally along the length of the indentation.  Repeat with the other pide.   Bake for a further 2 minutes. Bake the remaining pides in two batches, repeating the step with the eggs.

Eat hot from the oven sprinkled with a little sea salt.