Gozleme – Let’s give it a go!

I’m not sure where it was I first tried gozleme. I think it was either at the Freo Markets or the Subi Markets. I have vague memories of literally being drawn to the delicious aroma of the fragrant minced lamb sizzling away before it was sandwiched between a light pastry case and fried to a crispy perfection. Since that first encounter gozleme has been my go to market food. And I’d often wanted to give it a whirl at home, but I am often daunted by pastry, as it can really make or break a dish. However I told myself it was time to wo-man up and have a red hot go. I googled a few recipes before deciding on this one from the Fat Mum Slim blog. Lamb, fetta and spinach is a classic gozleme combo. Well classic for me at least given it’s what I always order

So it’s time to hit the shops, this is what you’ll need….

Dough Ingredients
4 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups warm water
vegetable oil for cooking

Filling Ingredients
1 tablespoon oil
1 onion, finely diced
3 garlic cloves crushed
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon sumac
1-2 teaspoons chilli flakes or as much as you fancy
500g lamb mince
200g feta, crumbled
150g baby spinach, chopped

And don’t forgot you also need a good few lemon wedges for spritzing when it’s time for serving!

First up you make your dough. Sift your flour and salt and then slowly add the water and gradually mix together until you’ve made a firm dough. Kneed the dough on a floured surface until it’s smooth and elastic, then place back in a bowl and cover with a tea towel while you prepare the filling. I largely followed this recipe but given I have a Thermomix, it turns out I shouldn’t have had any sort of pastry fear. Throw your flour, water and salt on and set for two minutes on knead. It is a basic dough and just so easy, with or without a thermie. So with that resting in a bowl start on your filling.

With the filling you heat the oil in a large frying pan and saute the onion and garlic for a few minutes. before adding in the spices – cumin, sumac and chilli flakes – and cook for another minute, things are about to start smelling very aromatic in the kitchen! Next add the mince and cook til browned through.

It’s then time to assemble. I split the dough into three balls and rolled flat on a lightly floured surface into as a shape as close to a rectangle as I could manage. They are very easy to put together and thankfully it’s a very forgiving dough to work with as you layer on the mince, fetta and spinach and then fold the parcels.

Throw some oil in the pan and put the first gozleme in. I then had a small dish of oil which I painted on the top of the pastry before turning.

They don’t take too long to turn a golden brown each side.

Then cut them into wedges and as suggested before, spritz on plenty of lemon, then get stuck in! We polished off three between us and I suspected I’d be cooking up another batch some time soon!

If you are a fan then definitely give them a go! Yummo!