In the late 1990's, Mr Grumpy and I spent two weeks travelling through Turkey. Now anybody that has visited Turkey will know it is almost impossible to move directly from point A to point B without a side visit to point C. Take a taxi, hire a guide or even catch the local bus and there is a very good chance you will detour via the drivers's father's/uncle's/brother's hotel (which is apparently better than the one you have already booked and paid for)/carpet or Turkish delight shop/restaurant or even a random ruin you didn't realise you wanted to see.
And so it was the day we visited Ephesus. Ephesus is located on a hillside a little way out of the town of Selcuk, and the easiest way to get there (other than a tour) is to hire a local to take you. Our friendly driver indicated that he would drop us at the top of the site, and meet us at the bottom of the site later in the day.
True to his word, our driver met us at the bottom of the hill. Then on the way back to Selcuk, he inquired as to whether we were hungry. We were, but were unsure as to where our positive response would lead us. This particular detour was via a small roadside food stall.
We were soon being ushered into a rough clearing, and taking a seat on the sawn off tree trunks that served as stools. In front of us, three wizened women rolled out paper thin dough with what looked like smooth sticks. As always happens with a language barrier, we ordered with lots of pointing, nods and smiles. The quickly assembled gozleme were then slapped on a large flat rock in the middle of a fire to cook. Once charred on both sides, the roughly cut flatbread was presented to us on a china plate with a slice of lemon. It was delicious. Quite unlike anything I had ever tasted, and well worth the detour.
The theme for this month's Recipe Redux is to produce a vacation inspired recipe, which was the perfect time to share this feta, spinach and mushroom gozleme. With a bucket of dough in the fridge and some garlic mushrooms in the freezer, I can have these gozleme in the pan in five minutes, making them an ideal option for an easy lunch or dinner.
Gozleme are now very easy to find in Perth, and I have eaten many since that time in Turkey. None of them have been as good as that simple meal on the Turkish hillside, but I do think my feta, spinach and mushroom version comes a close second. Let me know what you think.
Feta, Spinach and Mushroom Gozleme | The Recipe Redux
Author: Tania @ The Cook's Pyjamas
- 150g (about the size of a peach) artisan bread dough
- 80g (1/2 cup) frozen chopped spinach, kale or silverbeet (defrosted)
- 40g (1/3 cup) freezer ready garlic mushrooms
- 40g (1/4 cup) crumbled feta
- Plain flour, extra, for dusting.
- Lemon wedges to serve
- Place a fry pan over a low heat.
- Lightly dust the bench with flour.
- Roll out the bread dough into a large rectangle (approximately 25cm across the long side).
- Spread the spinach along one half of the rectangle, leaving a 0.5 cm border.
- Scatter the mushrooms over the spinach.
- Scatter the crumbled feta over the mushrooms.
- Fold the other half of the dough over the filling.
- Press the edges together to seal. I like to crimp the edges Cornish pasties style to keep the filling inside.
- Place the gozleme in the fry pan, and increase the heat to medium.
- Cook the gozleme for 4 minutes, without moving, or until brown patches have started to form on the underside. I slide my spatula under the edge of the gozleme and lift it slightly to check.
- Flip the gozleme over.
- Cook for an additional 4 minutes, or until browned.
- Remove the gozleme from the pan and cut into 4 - 5 pieces.
- Serve immediately with lemon wedges.
Dreaming of your next holiday? Be inspired by the recipes of my fellow bloggers below: