Turkish Gozleme Recipe

What is Gozleme?

Gozleme is a type of traditional Turkish stuffed flatbread like pide. 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.

Where it differs most from pide, gozleme is cooked on a griddle called saj or in a skillet whereas pide is baked in oven.

Gozleme is one of the most famous Turkish pastries known by tourisits 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 love our classic spinach and feta filling. We chose to use only a few basic ingredients whose flavors complement each other beautifully.

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 meats used in gözleme include minced beef, smoked or fresh seafood, and lamb. Popular vegetables include spinach, eggplants, onions, zucchini, leeks, chards, mushrooms, and peppers.

How to Make Dough (with and without yeast)

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, but we will also explain how to make an unleavened dough.

You can see exactly how to shape and cook gozleme in our How to Shape and Cook Section below.

Dough with Yeast

First, make the dough. Combine the flour, salt and yeast in a large mixing bowl. Slowly add warm water and mix the ingredients with your hands or a stand mixer. Continue until a rough dough ball forms. Knead for about 5-10 minutes.

Second, let the dough rise. Wet the bottom of a bowl and gently wet the surface of the dough with a wet hand. Add the dough and cover it with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap. Allow it to rest until it doubles in size – this can take up to 40 minutes.

Dough without Yeast

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

Second, allow the dough to rest. 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 is extremely easy and quick to make and doesn’t even require any cooking.

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 gözlemé 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.

Another popular filling is either a ground beef or lamb one. To make it you can quickly sauté some onions, add the ground meat, 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 a filling. A recipe we love contains feta, kaşar cheese, and cottage cheese. Mix these with some fresh herbs like parsley and dill, and finally green onions.

How to Shape and Cook

First, make the dough and allow it to rest. Combine the ingredients and allow it to rest before shaping it. You can check out our section on making gozleme dough with and without yeast for precise steps.

Second, divide, portion, and shape the dough. Lightly dust the surface with flour and place the dough there. Gently deflate it and shape it into a log. Cut the log into 6 equally sized pieces and roll each into a ball.

Third, roll them into very thin sheets. Repeat this after you cook a gozleme.

Next, add the filling into one half and fold the other half over it – it should form a half circle.

Then, seal the edges with your fingers. Make sure you cover the balls with a damp kitchen towel while you work to prevent them from drying out.

Next, cook the gozleme. Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat and cook each gozleme for about 3-4 minutes per side.

How to Store and Re-heat

Place your cooked 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.

More Turkish Flatbreads