Gozleme for Savory Pies Event

Gozleme

Part of the wonder of blogging is coming across recipes that you have never heard of previously. I was browsing sites one fine morning when EMJ of Blog From Our Kitchen caught my eye with a post about gözleme. Her original post is here .Not knowing what it was I had to Google it and am now fascinated with this Turkish street food. EMJ described watching the Turkish ladies prepare them at the market. According to Wikipedia Gözleme is a savoury traditional Turkish hand made and hand rolled pastry. Fresh pastry is rolled out. The thinly rolled out dough is filled, sealed, and cooked over a griddle. It is served hot with a slice of lemon.

Varieties include:

etli = meati

spanakli = with spinach

karisik = mixed

kasar peynirli = with yellow cow's milk cheese

katmer = plain

kiymali = with ground lamb

mantarlı = mushroom

spatatesli = with mashed potatoes

peynirli = with white sheep's milk cheese (feta)

A modern variation is honey and banana served hot with a slice of lemon.

Ayran is almost always served with gözleme.

I have yet to travel to Turkey so when in doubt enlist the aid of the experts. Burcu of Almost Turkish sent me some information on how to make gozleme .Some recipes called for a yeast dough but she suggested that simpler was better.

My blog sister Ivy of Kopiaste is holding an exceptional event Savory Pies. The premise of the event is to make a savory pie using any medium you desire. It can be topless, naked or two crusted. Ivy is always there with a kind word, taking the time out of her busy life with family and friends to share traditional and non-traditional recipes from Greece, Cyprus and the world over. She is such a sweetie I could never miss her event!!!!Ivy blogs out of Athens, Greece so the first thing that popped into my head was to prepare something with filo (phyllo) for her event. Of course I have been wanting to try to make gozleme so opted for that instead. Move on over to her site and join in the fun!!!!

This is a very simplified version of this street food. Apparently the proper way to roll the dough is to roll one of the rounds flat with a rolling pin on a flour-dusted surface, into a rectangle shape, as thinly as possible. Sprinkle on about a teaspoon of oil, then fold over into a square. Fold over twice more into a square. Repeat the dusting, rolling out to a large rectangle, folding, oiling, dusting process three more times. Repeat the entire process for each of the six rounds. You should end up with six neatly folded, labour-intensive squares! I plead ignorance and stick to my simplified version!!!!!!!

**Gozleme**

Dough

1 cup flour

A little bit less than 1/2 cup spring water, room temperature

1/2 tsp salt

The Filling

2 cups grated feta cheese or a mixture of feta and another cheese (mozzarella, cheddar, ricotta)
2 cups finely chopped silver beet or spinach leaves (no stems/panned and squeezed as dry as possible)
½ cup chopped fresh mint leaves
½ cup chopped flat leaf parsley
½ cup chopped spring onion
½ cup diced brown onion, mixed with the following:
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp mixed dried herbs (e.g. oregano, sage)

Minced Meat Filling (optional)

½ kg minced lamb
2 cloves minced garlic
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp paprika (hot or mild)
pickled or fresh red chillies (to taste)
1 medium carrot grated
½ cup of pureed tomato or juice
olive oil for frying

Place the flour and salt in a bowl. Slowly add water while you're kneading. Put the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead well for about 10 minutes until it becomes smooth. Cover the dough with a damp paper towel, let it stand for 15 minutes.

Cut the dough in 4 equal pieces with a knife. Roll out each piece about 25 cm in diameter with a roller.

Spread the filling ingredients equally in the middle of the dough. Sprinkle on the filling sparingly – as you would for a pizza topping – but on half of the square only. Start with a layer of cheese. Mix the spinach, mint, spring onion and parsley together in a bowl, and add some of this as the next layer. Top with some of the herb-spice-onion mixture.If desired, add a little of the cooked savoury minced lamb mixture, as the last layer. (For the lamb – pan fry the mince in a little oil until browned, add the other ingredients and continue cooking until the carrot has softened. Add the tomato juice as the mixture begins to dry out. Continue to cook on a low heat for another five minutes.)

First fold the opposite sides to cover the filling. Then fold the 3rd side and lastly the 4th side to cover up the filling. Heat up the Teflon pan just under medium heat. Cook one side of Gozleme until there are some "brown eyes*" on it. Then turn it over and brush this side with butter. Also brush the other side after cooking.

Serve gozleme with a slice of lemon while it is still warm.

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