Trabzon-Style Pide with Cheese and an Egg Yolk

Sebze by Ozlem Warren (Hardie Grant, £28) Photography by Sam A Harris.

Instagram: @ozlems_turkish_table

Makes 2

This is such a delicious pide – oozy, buttery, melted cheese over soft pide with an egg cracked over – a dish you can eat all day long. The Black Sea region is famous for their variety of pides – almost every city has their own specialty pide and this Trabzon yağlı pide stands out for me. It has only a handful of ingredients and the result is such a treat. Follow a few key steps carefully and you will be making this scrumptious pide again and again.

• 7 g (1 sachet) instant dry yeast
• 185 ml warm water
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 300 g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 tablespoons salted butter, cubed, plus 1 tablespoon for the topping
• 3 medium eggs
• 1 teaspoon olive oil, plus extra for greasing
• 120 g Trabzon’s kolot cheese, grated (although we don’t have this cheese at our market this month but @maltbyandgreek will be bringing Tinos Graviera and this would be an excellent cheese to use)
• 200 g mozzarella, grated
  Combine the yeast, warm water and sugar in a small bowl. Mix well, cover and set aside for 15 minutes.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour and salt. Create a well in the middle and pour in the frothy yeast mixture. Knead with your hands for 2–3 minutes to bring the dough together.

Place the dough onto a clean, dry, lightly floured surface. Add the cubed butter to the dough and knead well for another 2–3 minutes until you achieve a smooth dough ball.

Lightly oil the mixing bowl, place the dough in, cover with cling film (plastic wrap) and a dish towel. Leave in a warm place to prove for 30 minutes.

After this period, punch back the dough and knead. Divide into two equal dough balls. Place them back into the bowl, cover and prove for another 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200C fan/220C//gas 7. Line two baking sheets with baking paper.

Once the dough is risen, place one of the dough balls on a lightly floured surface, keeping the other covered. Stretch the dough into a thin, round shape, about 27 cm in diameter. Place on a baking sheet. Repeat with the other dough and place on the other baking sheet.

Separate the whites of the eggs into a bowl, carefully placing the whole yolks on a plate nearby. Transfer one of the yolks to a small bowl and add the teaspoon of olive oil to this yolk and combine well. Brush a 3 cm band of egg white around the edges of both dough circles and fold in the dough edges to create a 2 cm border. Press well so that edges stick to the dough – the brushed egg white will help seal them.

Brush the borders of both pide with the egg yolk mixture. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of water over the middle part of each dough and brush to cover the whole middle part (the water will prevent it puffing up).

Bake both pide for 8 minutes until the edges are golden.

Remove from the oven and spread half of the two cheeses on each pide evenly. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of water all round the middle part and dot over a few small dabs of butter.

Bake for a further 7 minutes until the cheese is melted. Remove from the oven and create a little dent in the middle of each pide. Carefully slide an egg yolk into each hollow. Bake for a final 1–2 minutes, making sure the yolk is still runny.

Serve immediately.