Turkish Pide Bread

Hold on a sec. Where is it? Hello? Where did it go? Crap, did I lose it?

Oh good, there it is. I found it. I thought I lost my identity somehow. All this Turkishness around me is overpowering sometimes. But here I am, a short, crazy Asian chick. I’m still here, all is well. Kimchi is awesome, and red pepper flakes make the world go round. So there.

[Makes a mental note to self to make more Korean food soon.]

Now that I know who I am again, let’s get back to the topic at hand. That bread up there.

You know the Turkish Food Festival I went to last weekend? Well, I had a chance to sample Simit, which is a Turkish style bagel. Like most Turkish foods, it sounds familiar and yet tastes completely different from what you would expect. This simit was airy, light, and slightly chewy with a very different flavor profile than an American bagel. Apparently it is very popular as a breakfast item, with Turkish tea.

This particular recipe reminds me a bit of the taste of this Turkish bread, but not completely. It’s almost a hybrid between the chewy Turkish bread and crusty French loaf. It makes a lovely sandwich roll or just break of pieces and enjoy with your favorite cheese!

Turkish Pide Bread
Courtesy of Angie’s Recipes

500 g bread flour
10 g active dry yeast
7 g salt
2 cups warm water
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp olive oil
sesame seeds

Mix together the flour and dry yeast in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer attached with a dough hook. Add in salt, water, honey and olive oil. Mix first at slow speed, when the dough starts to come together, increase the speed to medium and knead until you have a soft, but smooth dough, about 5 minutes.

Cover the dough with a plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place for about 45 minutes, or until doubled. Punch down and round into a ball. Divide into 6 portions, cover with plastic wrap and let rest 10 to 15 minutes.

Flatten each dough into a 1 inch thick rounds on a baking tray lined with foil sprayed with baking spray. Moisten the tops with water and sprinkle some sesame on top. Again let them rise, covered on the tray for about 30 minutes.

While those are rising, heat your oven to 450F. When the dough is finished rising, bake bread for 12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.