Recipes By Jessica Battilana
3 recipes found
Lamb and Eggplant Pide
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.
Roasted Tomato, Mozzarella and Pesto Calzones
The secret to crispy calzones: Bake them in a very hot oven, and use drier ingredients in the filling to prevent the dough from becoming soggy. Slow-roasting the tomatoes for the filling concentrates their flavor and pulls out their juices, while pesto adds punch without contributing too much moisture. Fresh mozzarella is just right for many things, but it’s too wet for a calzone, so use drier whole-milk mozzarella instead. If you prefer to use store-bought pizza dough, you’ll need three (8-ounce) balls for this recipe.
Cabbage, Feta and Dill Piroshki
There are as many possible fillings for piroshki as there are countries that claim the yeasted, stuffed buns as their own. In Russia and Ukraine, where they are an especially popular street food, you’ll find versions that are baked and versions that are fried with fillings both sweet and savory. In this baked version, the slightly sweet, butter- and egg-enriched dough encloses a filling of silky cooked green cabbage, which provides a nice counterpoint to salty feta. Once you’ve made these a couple times, you might start dreaming up your own fillings. Piroshki are a wonderful way to use up odds and ends.