Fillings, Option 1:

• 500g of minced lamb, beef or goat meat (with 20-30% of fat)
• 4 large size of onion
• 4 medium size tomatoes
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1 tbsp of tomato paste
• 1 tbsp of pepper paste (mild or hot)
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp paprika
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 bunch of fresh parsley
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup of butter.

Fillings, Option 2:

• 500g of minced lamb, veal or beef (with 20-30% of fat)
• 1 medium size onion
• 1 large red capcicum or 2 medium size tomatoes
• 200p of mushroom
• A bunch of parsley
• 2 cloves of garlic
• ¼ cup of olive oil
• 1 tbs of tomato paste
• 1 tbs of red pepper paste
• 1 tsp of salt
• 1 tsp of black pepper
• 1 tsp of paprika
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup of butter.

Preparation and Cooking:

• In Samsun Pide, unlike the open-pide versions, before rolling-out dough, all the ingredients have to be pre-cooked and ready for filling.
• Preparation of the fillings: In a large pan in the wood fired oven, cook finely chopped onion using olive oil and then add minced meat and cook until lightly cook. Then add the remaining ingredients after finely chopping tomatoes, garlic and fresh peppers, and season the mixture and cook it for about 20 min.
• Divide the pide dough into equal portions as in the first recipe of “Egg Pide” and roll-out the dough longer and thinner than the open-pide types.
• Place the pre-cooked fillings on it genereously, leaving a 2 cm border around the edges. Fold the long sides of the rolled-out dough towards the center and pinch them together to seal firmly. Note that unsealed dough will allow the escape of steam as well as spread of ingredients over the oven floor.
• Brush the top of the closed-pide with egg wash and transfer it inside the wood fired oven while leaving some space between them since they will expand during baking and extra room is needed to operate long-thin peel paddles to change the orientation of pides.
• Bake the pides in the oven until golden and crispy in Area E while moving the pide in and out closed to Area D for uniform cooking. Note that typical cooking time may vary around 10-15min and at around 270^oC, or until the top of pide is golden brown.
• After cooking, remove the Samsun Pide from the oven and immediately brush with melted butter (which enhances the flavour and texture of the pide) before slicing into approximately 4 cm thick pieces using a wheel cutter or a knife.

Hints and Comments:

• This type of pide is served as a main dish, typically after cooling down to allow the fillings to cool as well. It can be accompanied by side dishes such as pickles, a fresh salad, yogurt drink (ayran), or spicy purple carrot pickle juice (Şalgam Juice).
• The size of the rolled-out dough and the amount of filling inside each closed-pide will determine the required amount of egg and butter.
• Note that the filling options presented here have similar ingredients, with Option 1 featuring onion and tomato as the main ingredients.

Melted butter gives the pide a richer taste and a slightly different aroma compared to olive oil, which may also be used during the final wash.