Gözleme with Feta and Spinach
A quick and delicious Turkish street food. These gözleme freeze and reheat quite well. Also, the recipe is easily scale-able, depending on your needs.
Servings: 6
Ingredients
Flatbread*
- 500 g 4 cups and 2 tablespoons bread flour
- 7 g 2 ¼ teaspoon instant or fast-acting yeast
- pinch of sugar
- 10 g 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- 275 ml 1 ⅓ cup lukewarm water
- 60 ml ¼ cup olive oil
Filling
- 375 g 15 oz baby spinach**, washed
- 300 g feta cheese crumbled
- 6 spring onions*** finely sliced
- ¾ teaspoon chili flakes
Assembly
- Plain flour for dusting (when rolling)
- Olive oil for brushing and greasing (when cooking)
- Butter for serving
Alternative Filling 1
- 1 red pepper deseeded and roughly chopped
- 1 green chili roughly chopped
- 1 medium onion roughly chopped
- 1 clove garlic crushed or grated
- 600 g ground lamb
- small handful flat-leaf parlsey finely chopped
- 1 ½ teaspoon chili flakes
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 200 g just under ½ can chickpeas, cooked and drained
- salt
- half a lemon
Alternative Filling 2
- 2 tablespoons tahini
- drizzle of honey
Instructions
Flatbread (makes 6 gözleme or 4 large, 8 small, or 60 mini flatbreads/pizzas*)
- Add the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt to a large bowl.
- Make a well in the center and add the water and olive oil.
- Bring together to form a rough, shaggy dough.
- Knead the dough on a floured work surface (or using a dough hook with a stand/handheld mixer, or bread machine) for about 10 minutes. Dough will be soft, supple, and elastic.
- Place dough in a clean, lightly oiled bowl. Cover with a clean linen towel or Saran wrap. Leave to rise 30-60 minutes, until doubled in size. (Mine took only 30 minutes.)
Filling
- Chop the baby spinach, then add to a medium bowl together with the feta, spring onions, and chili flakes.
Assembly
- Once it's doubled in size, punch down the dough, knead until smooth, and divide into 6 equal pieces. One at a time, roll each piece out on a floured work surface, until the dough is very thin. Aim for a thickness of 0.1 inches (2 mm) and a diameter of about 9.8 inches (25 cm).
- Evenly distribute one-sixth of the filling onto one half of each dough sheet, getting almost to the very edges. Fold the dough over into a semi-circle, and lightly press on the edges to seal.
- Heat a 12-inch cast-iron or nonstick skillet over medium heat (4/10 on my stove).
- Cook gozleme one at a time, by first brushing one side with olive oil, placing the oiled side down in the hot pan, and cooking for 2-3 minutes. Brush with olive oil, flip over, and cook the other side for 2-3 minutes more.
- Serve immediately, with melted butter.
Alternate Filling 1
- Place the red pepper, green chili, onion, and garlic in a food processor. Pulse until finely chopped, but do not pulverize.
- Put the mixture into a sieve to drain out any excess liquid.
- In a medium bowl, add the ground lamb, red pepper mixture, parsley, chili flakes, tomato paste, chickpeas, and a little salt.
- Mix well, using your hands and taking care not to crush the chickpeas. Squeeze a little lemon juice over the top. Proceed with directions.
Alternate Filling 2
- Simply stir together the tahini and honey and smear on the rolled-out flat breads.
Notes
*To bake this dough as a flatbread or pizza, bake at 450 C for 7-10 minutes.
**Other greens would also work, including de-ribbed and finely chopped chard, collard greens, or kale.
***Substitute 2-3 caramelized onions for the spring onions.
**Other greens would also work, including de-ribbed and finely chopped chard, collard greens, or kale.
***Substitute 2-3 caramelized onions for the spring onions.