Hello there,
Thanks to friends visiting the new flat I had the chance to cook a lot, so have got a lot of recipes. This one in particular is very good when you have lots of people around and no bread at all. They are very tasty, warm, and could be eaten with all sorts of mezes. Called poğaça in Turkish, but according to wikipedia, it seems to have names like Pogača or Pogacha in the Balkans pogácsa in Hungary and pogatschen in Austria. It says it becomes foccaccia in Italy a more flat version. I feel like it sounds more of a Slavic word pogaca. (pron. may be say it like this in english : po-acher?)
It is definitely not a very healthy food given the amount of oil you use but very comforting and happy food I should say! The loveliest thing with pogaca is it is very good in the mornings or in the afternoons with tea.
Right, let’s begin cooking then.
What do I need to buy?
3 eggs (keep one yolk away as it will be used later)
one cup of plain yoghurt
a pack of butter
a cup of sunflower oil
1 bunch parsley, chopped fınely
3 spoonful of baking powder
a pack of feta cheese, crumbled
flour
sesame seeds or black seeds
How to make the dough?
The easiest way is trying to feel it:) Put the oil, butter, baking powder, yoghurt and 3 eggs (one yolk aside) in a bowl and add the flour slowly. Whilst kneading it will become not too wet not too dry, it should end up feeling like an earlobe as it is said in a Turkish idiom:)
Then mix the feta and parsley in a bowl this will be your stuffing. Do not forget the stuffing can be anything you want like just cheese, potato, or minced meat ( it is better to cook the minced meat before you put in the dough.)
Take several pieces of dough, make them round in your palm by rolling and pressing. They should not too thin or not too thick like 2 – 3 inch wide. After that put some stuffing in each of them and close them as it is showed here.
It is sort of a half moon shape. Then it is time to place them a on a greased baking sheet. Brush them with egg yolk then sprinkle black seeds or sesame seeds on top.
Put the tray in preheated oven (200 degrees) and cook until the colour of the pastries turn brownish and smelling beautiful.
There is an alternative and easier way of cooking which is when you make the dough you put the feta and parsley in it. And you make your dough a mixture. Then make several little doughs and cook them the same way.
After all these epısodes your pogaca is ready and believe me it is not hard as it sounds, enjoy!
The Smallest Kitchen 