Kale and Cheddar Gözleme

Name: Gözleme With Kale and Cheddar
Total time: 45 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 1¼ cups (156 g; or more) all-purpose flour; ½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or ¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt; ¼ tsp. baking powder; 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into ½" pieces, room temperature; 1 16-oz. package frozen kale, thawed; 1 bunch scallions, trimmed, finely chopped; 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped; Zest of 1 lemon; 8 oz. extra-sharp white cheddar, coarsely grated (about 2 cups); 1½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1 tsp. Morton kosher salt; ¼ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes; All-purpose flour (for dusting)

By Shilpa Uskokovic

January 9, 2025

Kale and cheddar folded in the squares of cooked dough on a cutting board served with labneh and olive oil and lemon wedges.

Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Taneka Morris, Prop Styling by Sean Dooley

Taking down a full pound of frozen kale feels like a Herculean task, but wrap the thawed contents in a stretchy, butter-riddled dough with lots of cheese, and suddenly, a pound doesn’t feel quite enough. These blistered stuffed breads are a joy to eat, hot off the skillet or cold and rolled up in a lunch pail the day after. Gözleme are customarily unleavened Turkish flatbread that take well to a variety of fillings. Ground meat, fresh or melted cheese, potato, or leafy greens are traditional.

The dough featured here is decidedly untraditional, starring a generous amount of butter and a pinch of baking powder. Both ingredients facilitate a particularly elastic dough that’s easy to work with and roll paper-thin. The dough will be damp, almost wet, on the initial mix, but after 10 minutes, it becomes springy and pliant. If you’re new to flatbread, know that you can use as much flour as you need while rolling out these gözleme; just brush off the excess with a pastry brush before cooking. Besides, a misshapen, blob-shaped gözleme is better than no gözleme at all.

Recipe notes