Our theme for this month is 'Griddle breads' and I almost wanted to make an Indian bread. But then as I was looking through my Pinterest boards, I found these Turkish Gözleme that I had pinned a while back.
Gözleme is a traditional Turkish savory flatbread that is filled with either meat or veggie stuffing and cooked over a griddle. They are popular street food in Turkey. The name of the dish comes from Turkish word göz which means 'compartment' in reference to the pocket of dough in which the various fillings are stuffed, sealed and cooked. Fillings vary by region and personal preference, and include a variety of meats (beef, lamb, seafood etc.), vegetables (spinach, zucchini, leek, chard, peppers, etc.), cheeses (feta, Turkish white cheese etc.) as well as eggs, herbs and spices.
There are quite a few different ways of making the dough or pastry for these gözleme. Some used yeast in the dough, some didn't, some even used sourdough to make the dough. But I found this recipe on Ozlem's Turkish Table and since it's coming from a Turkish blogger I knew it must be an authentic recipe.
I stuffed my gözleme with cheese, potato and spinach because my kids love this combination. I used Turkish red pepper paste to give some spiciness to the filling, but it can be easily substituted with some red pepper flakes. I loved how flaky and soft the final pastry ended up being. These are great to serve as snack with some tea or as a light meal with a salad. Recipe adapted from here:
Cheese & Potato Gözleme Ingredients:
- 1½cups Wholewheat flour
- 1½cups All purpose flour (if not using wholewheat flour, use 3 cups of all purpose flour)
- 2¼tsp Instant Yeast
- 1tsp Sugar
- 1tsp Salt
- 2tbsp Yogurt
- 1~1½cups Water
- 3 Medium Potatoes, boiled and mashed
- 1~2tsp Turkish Red Pepper paste (or substitute with 1~2tsp red pepper flakes)
- ½cup Feta cheese
- ¼cup Parsley, finely chopped
- 2tbsp Olive oil
- To taste Salt & Pepper
- Make the dough: Combine the flour(s), yeast, sugar, salt and yogurt in a mixing bowl. Add enough water to make a soft, pliable dough. Knead for 4~5 minutes. Cover with a kitchen towel and set aside to rise for 1 hour or until it doubles in volume.
- Make the filling: In the meantime, combine the mashed potatoes, red pepper paste (or red pepper flakes), feta cheese, parsley, olive oil, salt and pepper in a bowl. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
- Make the Gözleme: Once the dough is doubled, then gently deflate the dough and divide it into 8~10 pieces.
- Take a piece and roll it out as thin as you can. Sprinkle some dry flour to help you out with the rolling.
- Fold the left and right sides of the dough so that they meet in the edges meet in the middle.
- Spread about 2~3tbsp of the filling into the middle of the folded sides. Then fold the top and bottom edges over the filling making sure to cover it completely. Press the edges gently to seal. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.
- Heat a griddle or a non-stick pan on medium heat. Brush one side of the gozleme with olive oil and place oil side down in the pan and cook for 2~3 minutes or until golden brown. Brush the other side with oil and cook for another 2~3 minutes.
- Repeat with the remaining gozlemes.
- Cut the gozlemes into quarters or halves or serve as is.
Check out what my Griddle Breads that my fellow bakers have made for you:
- Amaranth (Rajgira) Paratha from Herbivore Cucina
- Cheese & Potato Gözleme from Cook's Hideout
- Corn Pancakes from Magnolia Days
- Cornmeal Griddle Cakes from Noshing With The Nolands
- English Muffins from La cocina de Aisha
- Fruity Hemp Seed Pancakes from Cindy's Recipes and Writings
- Honeyed Berry Crumpets from The Wimpy Vegetarian
- Hungarian Langos from Cooking Club
- Lachha Paratha from Sara's Tasty Buds
- Mardi Gras Griddle Scones from Hostess At Heart
- Masala Poli from I camp in my kitchen
- Masala Roti from Sneha's Recipe
- Paneer Kulchas (Cottage Cheese stuffed flatbreads) from Sizzling Tastebuds
- Phool Makhana Parathas (Puffed Lotus seeds parathas) from Seduce Your Tastebuds
- Purana Poli from Gayathri's Cook Spot
- Saffron Unleavened Bread from Kidsandchic
- Satpadi - Spiced Grilled Bread from Spiceroots
- Scallion Pancakes from A Shaggy Dough Story
- Sourdough English Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
- Spicy Loli from Food Lust People Love
- Spinach and Feta Gozleme from Spill the Spices
- Stacked Apple Arepas from The Schizo Chef
- Staffordshire Oatcakes from Ruchik Randhap
- Stove-Top Muffins (Diphaphata) from Wholistic Woman
- Swedish Polar Bread from G'Gina's Kitchenette
- Tortillas from Kylee Cooks
- Vitumbua (Coconut and Rice Pancake Balls) from Mayuri's Jikoni
- Welsh Cakes from Passion Kneaded
- Yeasted Chocolate Chip Pancakes from Pastry Chef Online