Lamb and Eggplant Pide

By Jessica Battilana

Total Time: 1¼ hours, plus rising
Rating: 4(154)
Notes: Read community notes

Sometimes referred to as Turkish pizza, pide (pronounced pea-DAY) is made with a simple yeast dough. You can make your own dough, or use two 8-ounce balls of store-bought pizza dough, if you like. Spiced ground lamb is a typical Turkish topping, but we use some diced eggplant and a bit of yogurt and mint as a nod to moussaka. Adding an egg to the yogurt thickens it, so when it’s cooked it becomes an almost-cheesy layer between the meat and dough. If you can’t find ground lamb, you can substitute ground beef, and for a vegetarian version, omit the meat and double up on the eggplant.

Featured in: 3 Highly Portable Picnic Options That Aren’t Sandwiches

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Ingredients

Yield:12 pide or 6 servings

For the Dough

¾cup/180 milliliters warm water
1tablespoon granulated sugar
1½teaspoons active dry yeast
2¼cups/290 grams all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
1½teaspoons kosher salt
2tablespoons olive oil

For the Filling

3tablespoons olive oil
1small onion, diced
1small eggplant (8 ounces/225 grams), diced
Kosher salt
2tablespoons tomato paste
½teaspoon ground cumin
½teaspoon black pepper
¼teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼teaspoon red-pepper flakes
⅛teaspoon ground allspice
½pound/225 grams ground lamb
2garlic cloves, minced
½cup/15 grams fresh mint, finely chopped
1tablespoon olive oil, for brushing the pans and the pides
½cup/120 milliliters plain full-fat yogurt
1large egg
Kosher salt and black pepper

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

Step 1
Make the dough: In the bowl of stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment (or in a large bowl with a wooden spoon) combine the water and sugar. Sprinkle the yeast on top and let stand 5 minutes until foamy. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour, salt and olive oil and mix until combined. Increase the speed to medium, and mix until the dough comes together as a smooth ball. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Step 2
While the dough is rising, make the filling: Heat the olive oil in a large (12-inch) skillet over medium. Add the onion and eggplant and several pinches of salt, and cook, stirring frequently, until softened and beginning to brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, cumin, black pepper, cinnamon, red-pepper flakes and allspice and cook for 1 minute. Add the lamb, increase the heat to high and cook, breaking up the chunks of meat with a wooden spoon, until the meat is barely pink, 5 to 6 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook 1 minute more, stirring constantly (or removing from the heat as necessary) to keep the garlic from scorching. Let cool slightly, then stir in the mint. Season to taste with more salt.
Step 3
Arrange the racks in the top and bottom third of the oven, and heat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease 2 rimmed baking sheets. In a small bowl, whisk together the yogurt and egg, and season with salt and pepper. Set aside. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and divide into 12 pieces, each about 1½ ounces/45 grams. With a floured rolling pin, roll each piece of dough into an even oval measuring about 6-by-4 inches/15-by-10 centimeters. Working with one piece of dough at a time, spoon a scant tablespoon of the yogurt mixture into the center of the oval, then use the back of the spoon to spread it in a thin layer, leaving a ½-inch border. Spoon some of the lamb mixture on top of the yogurt and spread in an even layer. Fold the edges of the dough up and pinch the ends so the pide resembles a canoe. With a large spatula (or the bottom of a removable bottom tart pan) transfer the pide to the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough, yogurt and lamb.
Step 4
Brush each pide with some of the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Bake until the dough is deep brown, 18 to 23 minutes, rotating the pans and switching oven racks halfway through baking. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool. Eat warm or at room temperature.

Ratings

4 out of 5

154 user ratings

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Cooking Notes

Tani3 years ago

I’ve made this 3 times now, twice as the small boats and once as a large pizza. Peeling the eggplant worked better for us and dicing it as the recipe suggests rather than chopping. The flavors are excellent together. I added a little water and more oil second and third times as the lamb mixture was too dry.

Shane3 years ago

Covid friendly for back porch six-footers where you need to eat something substantial with your vinho verde but don't want to get too close by sitting at a table. I omitted the cinnamon and allspice. Substituted parsley for the mint. Made a yogurt (raita type) sauce for topping. Excellent! For kid friendly version- half lamb/half ground pork and left out the eggplant. Those kids don't know what they're missing!

Rich (Chesapeake Bay)2 years ago

A Keeper. Who has lamb by the half pound? I doubled the savory recipe to use a whole lb of lamb but kept the dough the same. Made four size 11 shoe shaped crusts. Served with tzatziki. The remaining lamb mixture will go in pita pockets for lunch.

LBR2 months ago

Very tasty! Cooked until the eggplant broke down and melded with the lamb, which was very good, though we thought it was a bit dry. Next time we'll add more eggplant. Might try fresh tomatoes in the lamb/eggplant mixture along with the tomato paste as well. Also added crumbled fresh feta on top after baking and more fresh mint on top. Not sure the egg and yogurt mixture is essential (doesn't quite come through the rich flavors of the filling, which is what prompted us to add feta on top).

AJD6 months ago

These were a hit with my family. I made 6 large ones instead of 12 small ones.

Sean Fancy1 year ago

If you care, it's pronounced PEA-deh, not pea-DAY. Emphasis on first syllable and very soft finish to the second.

SCA1 year ago

My dough was super dry, so I added a bit of water to get it to stick together. I think next time, as a weeknight meal, I’ll make this with TJ’s dough. Mine felt too flat/crispy. And you can totally just make this on the sheet pan, instead of transferring. I used turkey, since I don’t eat lamb. Also went with a commenter’s rec to peel the eggplant and dice it - you could hardly tell it was there! I think it would taste good with a bit of yogurt/garlic/cucumber sauce on top.

Gert1 year ago

One of my kids is vegetarian so I often have two pans going at the same time. It was really easy with this recipe, in one pan I used ground lamb and for the vegetarian version I substituted lentils. Both version were delicious.

Rich (Chesapeake Bay)2 years ago

Susan11 months ago

I do... have lamb by the half pound, that is. My butcher has lamb sausages that are about half a pound each. That said, why not make a double-batch of the filling and use in as you suggest (sounds like a great lunch to me) or freeze it for another time?

Me2 years ago

Brilliant recipe. I like to 2x the spices and reserve the mint for once the pides have exited the oven.

Sherri2 years ago

Truly delicious! I probably increased the spices by 50%. Like Tani's review, the first time it was a bit dry (but still fabulous) because I failed to heed the instruction on cooking the lamb mixture until it was barely pink so it dried out in the oven. The second time it was perfect in taste and texture.

Sami3 years ago

First time making Pide, second time working with Lamb. The recipe tasted great, and I loved the dough recipe! I’ll be making these again!

Sim Aberson3 years ago

Substituted plant-based neat substitute for the lamb, and they turned out great. And I *love* lamb.

Paul C.3 years ago

So good! The combination of eggplant, lamb, and all of the spices is really delicious. We followed the recipe closely. We ended up calling them Turkish Pizza Boats (and our 4 year old loved them).

Naomi3 years ago

Really good. I used some premade pizza dough I had in the freezer, and it turned out just fine. Also dotted some feta on the top. I might try to make a vegetarian version with garbanzos.

heather3 years ago

Double everything to use 1 lb lamb

Harrison3 years ago

Delicious, didn’t need that much flour for the dough, but could just be the brand of flour I was using. Will definitely cook again!

Sidrah3 years ago

These were perfectly delicious! I inadvertently doubled the recipe by not paying attention to the 1/2 pound of lamb but was able to double the spice before the recipe got away from me. Luckily our eggplant was on the large side. It was tricky trying to move them to the baking sheets but the right spatula and some care did the trick. We love lamb and this was a fun new way to have it. Repeat for sure!

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