Asparagas Pide

Fresh and Flavorful

This dessert, made with bananas that are cooked in a citrusy brown sugar and rum sauce and served with crunchy pecans on top, is so irresistible that we eat it straight from the pan.

Photo credit: Victor Protasio / Margaret Monroe Dickey / Thom Driver

Ingredients

Dough

1 1/2 cups cold water
1 3/4 ounces sourdough starter or poolish (about 3 tablespoons) (see Note)
1 (1/4-ounce) envelope active dry yeast (such as Fleischmann’s)
4 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons bread flour (about 19 3/8 ounces), plus more for sprinkling and dusting
1 tablespoons kosher salt

Filling

12 1/2 ounces taze kaşar, kashkaval, or low-moisture whole-milk mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 3 cups)
4 1/4 ounces double-cream feta cheese (or regular feta stirred into 1 tablespoon heavy cream) (about 2/3 cup)
1 3/4 pounds fresh asparagus spears (about 40 spears), trimmed and halved crosswise
1 tablespoon garlic-infused olive oil, plus more for brushing
1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Additional Ingredients

Semolina flour, for dusting
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup torn mixed fresh herbs (such as flat-leaf parsley, mint, and dill)
3/4 cup mild ajvar (bell pepper and eggplant spread)
3/4 cup kaymak, clotted cream, or sour cream
Grated lemon zest, for garnish

Directions

Make the dough
Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper, and lightly sprinkle with bread flour; set aside. Beat 1 1/2 cups cold water, sourdough starter, and yeast with a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment on medium-low speed until combined, about 10 seconds. With mixer running on medium-low speed, gradually add bread flour and salt, beating until all dry ingredients are incorporated, about 1 minute and 30 seconds. Increase mixer speed to medium, and beat until dough is smooth, elastic, and tacky, 7 to 8 minutes. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide dough evenly into 6 balls (about 5 3/4 ounces each), and arrange 3 inches apart on prepared baking sheet. Lightly dust dough balls with bread flour, and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate 12 hours or overnight. (The dough will double in size and flatten slightly.)
Make the filling
Beat taze kaşar and feta with a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium speed until well combined and creamy, about 2 minutes. Set aside. Toss together asparagus pieces, garlic-infused olive oil, Aleppo pepper, salt, and black pepper in a large bowl until asparagus is evenly coated. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 500°F with a baking steel or stone about 6 inches from heat. (Alternatively, preheat a pizza oven to medium-high for 10 minutes according to manufacturer’s instructions.)
Roll the dough
Working with 1 dough ball at a time, remove dough from refrigerator, and transfer to a lightly floured (with bread flour) work surface. Roll dough into a 7- x 11-inch oval.
Spread the cheese
Spread 1/3 cup cheese mixture over dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Gently fold 2 long edges of dough in and over cheese mixture, making sure not to press dough down.
Shape the dough, add asparagus
Pinch corners to seal, creating a canoe shape. Arrange 12 to 14 asparagus halves diagonally on cheese. Brush crust with garlic-infused olive oil.
Bake and garnish
Transfer pide to a semolina-dusted pizza peel or a rimless baking sheet. Slide pide directly onto hot baking steel. Immediately increase oven temperature to broil. Broil pide until top is lightly charred and bottom is golden brown, about 4 minutes, using peel to rotate pide 90 degrees halfway through baking time. (Alternatively, slide pide directly into preheated pizza oven. Cook until top edges are puffed and charred in spots and bottom has brown spots, 2 to 3 minutes, using peel to rotate pide 90 degrees every 20 to 30 seconds. Without removing pide from pizza oven, turn off oven. Cook pide until bottom is golden brown, about 45 seconds.) Remove pide from oven, and brush crust with some of the melted butter. Repeat process with remaining dough, filling, asparagus, oil, and melted butter, returning standard oven or pizza oven to temperature between batches.
Top pide evenly with mixed fresh herbs. Dollop each with 2 tablespoons ajvar and 2 tablespoons kaymak. Garnish with lemon zest. Serve hot, brushing with extra olive oil, if desired.