Gozleme (Stuffed Turkish Flatbread)

What is Gozleme?

Gozleme is one of the traditional Turkish foods. It is a type of stuffed flatbread like pide and lahmacun. It is cooked on a griddle called saj or in a skillet whereas pide is baked in oven.

The bread itself can be made from either unleavened dough, or yeast leavened dough. This dough is rolled into a very thin sheet, filled with toppings, sealed and then cooked.

Gozleme is one of the most famous Turkish foods known by tourists visiting our country.

How has it become that famous? Local people make and sell it at almost all tourist attractions. You can see them everywhere you visit in Turkey. It doesn’t matter where you go, it could be a historical place, beach or a plateau. You can even find gozleme at roadside restaurants when your bus has a break.

Local people don’t need to have a restaurant for this. Just a stand and fire will be enough for them. It’s not surprising to see women making gozleme even at the back of a pickup truck. They generally use a very thin iron plate on fire to bake pastries. It works with electricity and very practical. People use wood fire in villages and gozleme baked on it is absolutely more tasty.

Ingredients

For this recipe we use a leavened dough that consists of flour, salt, instant yeast and water. This is a very basic leavened dough that is very quick to combine.

The filling is where the real magic is. We use our classic spinach and feta cheese filling just like in our spinach and cheese borek recipe.

However, there are a wide range of other traditional Turkish fillings that can be made. You can also choose to add some classic gozleme filling ingredients to this one.

Classic meat used in gözleme is minced beef (ground beef). Popular vegetables include spinach, potatoes, eggplants, onions, zucchini, leeks, chards, mushrooms, and peppers.

How to Make Gözleme Dough

Making Gozleme dough is extremely easy to do and you can follow the same steps as with our lavash bread recipe. Today, we will be making a leavened dough using yeast because we think the result is softer.

In a large mixing bowl, mix the flour, salt, and instant yeast. Slowly add the lukewarm water and stir with a fork. You might not need all of the water.

When it gets hard to stir with a fork, start mixing with your hand. Knead the dough until everything comes together. If it feels too sticky, lightly wet your fingertips with water. Press, stretch, and fold the dough until it becomes smooth and elastic. This should take about 5-10 minutes. You can also use a stand mixer with a dough hook.

Shape the dough into a ball and put it back in the bowl. Cover it with a clean kitchen towel and let it rest for 40-50 minutes, or until it doubles in size.

Sprinkle some flour on your work surface and place the risen dough on it. Gently press to remove air bubbles. Shape it into a log and cut it into 8-10 pieces. Cover the pieces with a kitchen towel to keep them from drying out. Let them rest for 15 minutes before rolling them out.

Can I Make the Dough without Yeast?

Yes, you can. Combine 3 cups flour, 1 teaspoon salt, ¼ cup oil, and ¾ cup water. Mix the ingredients together until a dough ball forms.

Place the dough in a slightly wet bowl and allow it to rest for roughly 15-20 minutes. This will help the gluten strands relax and make it easier to roll out.

Spinach and Cheese Filling

Our spinach and cheese filling for gozleme is extremely easy and quick to make and doesn’t even require any cooking. We use a combination of spinach and crumbled feta cheese in the same way as our borek filling.

Simply combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and just like that, an easy and delicious filling. We love using feta cheese but you can use a combination of different cheese for even more flavor.

Filling Variations

There are a ton of different gözleme fillings that you can use. One of the most popular fillings in Turkey is a potato filling.

To make potato filling is simple; boil the potatoes, finely chop them, and then combine them with some other ingredients like paprika, red pepper flakes, and chopped parsley. This mixture has to be completely cooled before using it as a filling. We shared the exact recipe for the potato filling in our pogaca recipe.

Another popular filling is with ground beef. To make this filling, you can quickly sauté some onions, add the ground beef, season the mixture with some spices and freshly chopped parsley, then finally, allow it to cool and use it.

Finally, as we have already briefly mentioned, you can use a combination of cheese for the filling. We love feta cheese (beyaz peynir), kaşar cheese, and cottage cheese (lor peyniri). Mix these with some finely chopped fresh herbs like parsley, dill, and green onions.

How to Make Gozleme

Take a dough ball and sprinkle some flour over it, then roll it out thin, adding more flour as needed if it gets sticky. Try to shape it into a circle, but it doesn’t have to be perfect.

Spread about three tablespoons of filling over one half of the dough. Then fold the empty half over the filling and press the edges firmly with your fingertips to seal.

Place the prepared gözleme onto a clean kitchen towel and cover it with the towel to prevent drying. Prepare the remaining dough pieces in the same way and keep them under the towel until ready to cook.

Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat and place the gözleme in the hot pan, cooking for three to four minutes on each side until golden brown.

How to Store and Re-heat

Place your cooked and cooled Turkish gozleme inside an airtight container. During summers you can keep it inside the refrigerator and in winters you can keep them at room temperature for one day.

To reheat these delicious stuffed flatbreads, simply add them in a pan over low heat, or alternatively you can reheat them in the oven.

Serving Suggestions

Gozleme is one of the most popular Turkish breakfast foods, so it can be paired with other breakfast dishes like fried eggs, olives, tomatoes and cucumbers.

Also it can be served for lunch, accompanied by either ayran or tea. So you can serve it with these drinks. Also, it can be served with a refreshing salad like Turkish coban salad, a dip like haydari meze or with a dollop of simple strained yogurt.

More Turkish Pastries

• Lahmacun
• Bazlama
• Pide Bread
• Pide with Ground Beef
• Manti
• Simit

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