Tags
Ezme, Hummus, Semolina cake with syrup, Turkish coffee, Turkish cookery, Turkish cuisine, Turkish Pide
Turkish Pide, Ezme and Hummus.
The recipes and flavours of Turkey are vibrant, fresh and colourful-sunshine on a plate. I’ve never travelled to Turkey but I’ve spent a lot of time in Northern Cyprus (Turkish part) and love mezzes.
Here are some of my favourite Turkish recipes that are easy and cheap to make at home.
Vegetarian Pide
Ingredients
Dough
20g fresh yeast
100ml warm water
100ml warm milk
400-500g all purpose flour
1/2 tbsp yogurt/ plain
1 pinch sugar
1 rich salt
1 egg white
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
Garnish
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
Filling
1 tomatoes finely chopped
1 capia pepper
2 green banana pepers
1 tbsp tomato paste
5-6 stalks parsley chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes.
Vegetarian and meat Turkish Pide.
Preparation method:
- Place the yeast in a small bowl add warm water and warm milk. Mix well wait until the mixture becomes bubbly.
- Put 3/4’s of the flour in a large mixing pot and in the middle pair the yeast and water.
- Start to knead. Add all the other crust material one by one, while kneading. The dough should become a non sticky ball, neither too hard nor too soft. Knead for about 10 minutes.
- Turn the dough into a large ball. Sprinkle with some flour so it does not stick. Cover with a clean kitchen towel. Set aside for at least 30 minutes.
- Chop all the peppers and the tomato to small cubes. Sauce for 2 minutes. Close the heat.
- Add all the remaining filling ingredients together and mix well. Your filling is ready. When time is up uncover the dough. If you notice the dough has expanded and there are cracks on it, its a sign the dough is ready.
- Knead it again for a few minutes to let the air in the dough to get out.
- When time is up uncover the dough if you notice the dough has expanded and there are cracks on it, it is a sign the dough is ready.
- Knead it again for a few minutes to let the air in the dough to get out.
- Then make small balls out of the main dough ball in walnut sizes. Cover with the kitchen towel again.
- Take a ball, sprinkle with some flour and then using a rolling pin obtain a flat oval long rectangular sheet, a bit larger than a hand. don’t switch sides, it will be easier to form the shape this way. Spread just enough filling on top of the sheet, leave the sides clear. Then curl corners and flip sides inwards so the filling does not spill around during baking.
- Continue till the dough and filling is finished.
- In a small bowl mis the egg yolk yogurt and olive oil. Then using an egg brush spread this mixture on sides and corners.
- Bake until golden on top and bottom in a preheated oven at 200 degrees celsius for about twenty minutes.
Ezme
Crushed tomato and pepper paste/salad.
Turkish cuisine is known also for its ability to create surprisingly delicious flavours with few and basic ingredients. This paste/salad is a good example of such a recipe.
Ezme can be served as a starter (meze) or as a side dish next to kebabs, fish or other meats.
Ingredients
2 tomatoes
1 cucumber
1 onion
1 capia pepper
1 banana peper
1 chilli pepper optional
5-6 stalks parsley
1 tbsp pepper paste
1/2 lemon juice
1 rich salt to taste
1 rich red pepper flakes
1 tsp pomegranate sauce
2-3 fresh mint leaves or dry mint flakes.
1-3 garlic cloves.
1 tbsp olive oil extra virgin.
Preparation Method:
- Peel the tomatoes. Take out the seed part – you may use it in other such dishes as a soup another salad or pasta sauce. Chop the tomatoes as tiny as possible. You can choose to use a food processor. Transfer to a medium sized bowl.
- Do the same with peppers. Add to the tomatoes.
- Peel and chop well the onion and the cucumber. Add to bowl.
- Chop well the parsley and add.
- Mix all together.
- Place in a wine colander onto similar sized bowl.
- Put all the vegetable mix into the colander and squeeze out the excess water of the vegetables by pressing down either with your hand or a wooden spoon.
- Save the excess vegetable water for preparing other dishes, such as a soup.
- The drier this salad is the better.
- Add all the other spices and ingredients. Mix well and place the salad in a serving dish. Leave in the fridge for at least an hour so all the flavours are absorbed and the salad chills.
- Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Taste and adjust spices before serving.
Hummus
Preparing hummus takes no time or special effort but still many people buy ready made hummus from stores. There is a lazy women market in Gaziantep, Turkey. They sell everything ready, peeled and chopped. You might think no body would shop in a market with such a name, but on the contrary, its always very busy. This is a quick and easy recipe that even appeals to those buyers.
Ingredients
500g canned chickpeas
1 tbsp tahini
1 tbsp plain yogurt
1/2 lemon juice
1-2 garlic cloves crushed
2tbsp extra virgin-olive oil
a pinch of salt to taste
pinch black pepper to taste
pinch of paprika
1 tsp red pepper flakes to garnish.
Instructions
- Rinse the chickpeas
- Peel off the chickpeas to obtain a smoother hummus.
- First process the tahini, the yogurt and lemon juice in a food processor for a minute. Then add the olive oil, salt, black pepper and crushed garlic cloves and turn on the food processor again for another minute.
- Finally add the chickpeas to the food processor and continue until the mixture is smooth.
- If the hummus is thicker than desired add some more olive oil, tahini or yogurt.
- Taste and adjust spices.
- Pour into a serving dish. Garnish with additional olive oil and red pepper flakes.
- Hummus can be served as paste – a starter – meme or side-dish.
- It’s possible to keep in the fridge for several days.
For the perfect Turkish meal follow with –
Semolina Cake with syrup.
Beautiful Turkish coffee.
Please share your favourite Turkish recipes with SurreyK.
Emma xxx
SurreyKitchen 