Fig and Goat Cheese Pide
My fig obession kicked in the last few years and I’m still kicking the fact that when I was a kid I didn’t appreciate the fig tree we had in our backyard. I love when they’re just the right amount of ripeness where they still hold their shape but they’re a little jammy inside and very sweet. With the pide dough in this recipe, I usually divide it up into 3-4 pieces and only use 2 of them and freeze the rest. You wrap each piece up in cling film and put in a sandwich bag to stop it from drying out. When the mood strikes you, bring a piece of dough down and let it defrost in the fridge overnight and it’ll be ready to use by dinner time.
INGREDIENTS
Makes 2 large pide (leftover dough can be frozen)
Pide
350g flour
7g yeast
1.5 tblsp extra virgin olive oil
1 cup water
½ tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
Filling
8 small figs, sliced into 4 slices each
50g goat cheese
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
Balsamic Reduction
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
Extra virgin olive oil
Egg wash
METHOD
To make the pide, mix all the dough ingredients together (except the olive oil) in a stand mixer bowl with just a wooden spoon or spatula till just combined. Place the bowl in the stand mixer and using a dough hook, knead the dough for 5 minutes on a low setting before adding the olive oil and continuing to knead till the dough is soft and bounces back slightly when poked. Turn the dough onto a bench and roughly shape it into a round shape.
Lightly oil a large mixing bowl and place the dough into the bowl, turning it over to coat it in the oil. Cover the bowl with cling wrap and allow the dough to proof for approximately an hour or till the dough has doubled in size.
Preheat the oven to 220 degrees celcius and line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper.
Whilst the dough is proofing, make the balsamic reduction by adding the balsamic vinegar to a small saucepan and heat it up over low-medium heat. As soon as the vinegar starts to bubble, reduce the heat and watch it closely. Every now and then lightly shake the saucepan but otherwise let the vinegar reduce over low heat until it starts to take on a thicker consistency. Once it appears syrupy, remove the saucepan from the heat straight away otherwise it will become like a caramel. Pour the reduction into a small clean jar as any unused reduction can be stored in the jar at room temperature and used later.
When the dough is ready, punch it down and turn it out onto a lightly floured benchtop and gently knead it for less than a minute.
Divide the dough into approximately 120-150g pieces – set aside two pieces and cover with a clean tea towel. With the extras, wrap each piece in cling wrap and place in a sandwich bag. These extras can be frozen and when the mood strikes, you can make a pide by bringing down a piece of dough the night before and letting it defrost in the fridge.
Take one of the pieces of dough from under the tea towel and stretch it out with your fingers into an elongated oval shape. Lay out the fig slices on the dough, leaving a 1 cm border all the way around. Fold the edges of the dough over the figs and pinch the both ends to seal the figs in. Place this on the baking tray and repeat with the other piece of dough.
Brush the edges of each pide with olive oil and bake in the oven for 15 minutes (rotate half way through to ensure even browning).
Remove the baking tray from the oven and scatter the goat cheese and toasted walnuts over the pide before drizzling with the balsamic reduction.