MAIN, STARTER, TO BAKE, VEGETARIAN, BREAKFAST AND BRUNCH, QUICHE AND PIZZA MAIN, STARTER, TO BAKE, VEGETARIAN, BREAKFAST AND BRUNCH, QUICHE AND PIZZA

Turkish Pide with Provençal Olive Tapenade

Anatolia - my new favourite cookbook by Somer Sivrioglu and David Dale - inspired me to create a cultural fusion. Turkey and France meet in my vegetarian version of Somer's Lahmacun - thin pide (Turkish pizza) spread with a thin layer of minced meat and chopped vegetables. The original recipe uses minced lamb and tastes fantastic, but when I enjoyed this crisp treat a couple weeks ago, I decided to try a meat-less variation of it.

Compared to Italian pizza, it's a quick project. The dough is made without yeast and doesn't need to rise, and the ingredients for the tapenade pulsed in a blender don't need much time and attention either. The topping is dark and concentrated, lots of Kalamata olives, parsley, red onion, capers, anchovies, and mustard. It's quite an addictive little snack, the two of us ate all four pide in one go at lunchtime!

Pide with Provençal Olive Tapenade

Serves 2-4

For the dough

  • plain flour 270g / 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons

  • salt 1 teaspoon

  • water, lukewarm, 125ml / 1 cup

For the tapenade

  • pitted black olives, preferably Kalamata, 200 g / 7 ounces

  • flat- leaf parsley leaves 20g / 1 large handful, plus more for the topping

  • medium red onion, chopped, 1/2

  • capers, preferably preserved in salt, rinsed and dried, 25 g / 2 tablespoons

  • anchovy fillets, rinsed and dried, 4

  • olive oil 8 tablespoons, plus more for the topping

  • freshly squeezed lemon juice 2 tablespoons

  • Dijon mustard 2 teaspoons

  • ground pepper

For serving

  • Fresh red chili pepper, thinly sliced, 1/2

Preheat the oven to the highest setting (at least 260°C / 500°F) and put a baking sheet on the bottom of the oven.

For the dough, combine the flour and salt in a large bowl, add the water, and mix with the dough hooks of an electric mixer for a few minutes until well combined. Transfer the dough to a countertop and continue kneading and punching it down with your hands for 5 minutes until you have a smooth and elastic ball of dough. Divide the dough into 4 balls, place them back in the bowl, cover with a damp tea towel, and leave to rest while you prepare the tapenade.

Purée the ingredients for the tapenade in a blender or food processor until smooth.

On a floured table or countertop, roll out the dough with a rolling pin into four 23-cm / 9-inch rounds and cover with a tea towel. Transfer 1 round to a floured pizza peel (or medium cutting board) and spread evenly with 1/4 of the tapenade (you might need a bit less) and sprinkle with a little chili pepper. Transfer the pide to the hot baking sheet in the oven and bake for 4-5 minutes or until golden brown. Take the pide out of the oven, drizzle with a little olive oil, and sprinkle with a few parsley leaves. Repeat with the remaining pide. Enjoy warm or cold.

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