Ricotta and Asparagus Pide

Pide is a Turkish flatbread shaped like a boat that can hold a myriad of ingredients and flavours. 

This recipe brings together the creaminess of ricotta cheese and the brightness of asparagus on a tarragon pide. Top it with a fresh asparagus and fennel salad and brush it with a little chive compound butter.

Candice’s ricotta and asparagus pide stood out as her Signature Bake for Harvest Week in Season 7 of The Great Canadian Baking Show.

Ricotta and Asparagus Pide

By Candice Riley

Ingredients

Dough:

• 5 cups (600 g) bread flour
• 2 tsp salt
• 2¼ tsp (1 pkg) instant yeast
• 1 tsp granulated sugar
• 1¾ cups warm water (about 104 F/ 40 C)
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for greasing
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• Semolina, for dusting

Ricotta Topping:

• One 475 g tub (about 2 cups) ricotta cheese
• ½ cup 125 g plain cream cheese, softened
• 2 lemons, zested and juiced
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp tarragon, finely chopped
• 1 egg
• ¾ tsp salt
• ½ tsp fresh ground pepper
• 32 asparagus spears, divided

Asparagus and Fennel Salad:

• 1 tsbp lemon juice
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 6 thick spears asparagus, thinly sliced or peeled
• 1 fennel bulb thinly sliced, fronds reserved
• ½ red onion, thinly sliced

Chive Compound Butter:

• ½ cup (113 g) butter, softened
• ¼ cup (12 g) chives chopped

Preparation

Dough:

Whisk together flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the yeast, sugar, water, olive oil and tarragon. Stir together with a wooden spoon to form a ragged dough. Fit the stand mixer with a dough hook and knead on medium speed until it forms a smooth dough, about 8 to 10 minutes.

Shape the dough into a ball and place it into an oiled bowl. Tightly cover it with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise until it’s doubled in size. If you’re using a proofing drawer, this should take about 30 minutes at 85 to 90 F. If you’re proofing the dough in a warm place in your kitchen, this will take between 1 hour and 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Once proofed, punch the dough down and divide it into eight equal pieces. Round each up into a tight ball, place on a lightly floured baking sheet, dust lightly with flour and cover with a damped tea towel. Set aside to proof for 15 minutes in a proofing drawer, or 30 to 45 minutes in a warm place in your kitchen, until doubled in size.

Ricotta Topping:

Meanwhile, add ricotta, cream cheese, lemon juice, lemon zest, olive oil, tarragon, egg, salt  and pepper and to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse together until well mixed. Thinly slice half (sixteen) of the asparagus spears. Fold into the ricotta mixture.

Assembly and Baking:

Heat the oven to 475 F. Sprinkle semolina on two sheet pans.

Roll or pat the dough out on a lightly floured surface into an oval shape, 10-inches long and 6-inches wide. Place each dough on the prepared tray, four on each. Spread each pide with the ricotta topping leaving an inch border

Brush the ends with water and pinch them together to seal then fold the sides of the pide inward creating a boat-like shape. Place two asparagus spears along the inside edge of each pide. Egg wash the edges of the pide.

Bake until the crust is golden, switching trays halfway, about 15 to 18 minutes.

Asparagus and Fennel Salad:

While baking, whisk together lemon juice, oil and salt and pepper, to taste. Add veggies and toss to combine.

Chive Compound Butter:

While baking, stir together butter and chives.

Garnish:

Once baked and still warm, brush crusts of the pides with butter and top with shaved asparagus and fennel salad right before serving. Sprinkle with fennel fronds and serve.

Makes 8 pide