New Year in July – more bread ideas

The second of my “make your own” bread ideas is pide. I mentioned it this time last year, as part of the “Back catalogue” series. A quick reminder - “Pide” (pronounced pee-day) is a Turkish bread that uses semolina – a perfect addition to the “dive-in” type of New Year bash we're planning here.

Don't be scared – this is not difficult. All you have to plan is when you're going to be around the house in a morning or an afternoon, to be able to complete the stages, none of which are long winded, it's perfect to slot in around the chores you know you've got to tackle anyway so why not get home-made bread as a bonus!

Here goes :

You can choose whether you use the salt, oil and sesame seeds as a topping or roll in semolina and sprinkle with Nigella seeds before baking.

Pide

one sachet of easy-blend yeast – 7g

pinch of salt

700g plain white flour

plus extra

1 egg, beaten

100ml olive oil

400ml lukewarm water

2 tbsp semolina

30g sesame seeds and coarse sea salt

or

extra semolina and Nigella seeds to sprinkle

Put the flour into a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Pour in the yeast and the olive oil reserving a little to brush over the bread prior to proving, add the water.

Mix until the dough forms into a firm ball, leaving the sides of the bowl. Cover with a clean damp cloth and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in size. 1 – 1½ hours.

Lightly flour two baking sheets.

Knock down the dough - divide into two, shape each into a round ball and then roll each in 1 tbsp of semolina . Roll out and shape into two ovals and place on the baking sheets. Brush with beaten egg, sprinkle with sea salt, the reserved oil and sesame seeds. Alternatively you can sprinkle with additional semolina and Nigella seeds. Leave to prove for 30 minutes in a warm place.

Pre-heat your oven 210c/190fan/Gas 7.

Make dimples all over the surface of the bread – use your index finger vertically into the bread and you'll achieve the same size.

Bake in a hot oven for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and when the base is tapped the bread sounds hollow.

From the recipe given you'll get two pide – 30x20cms or 12x8” in old money.

You don't have to be an accomplished bread maker – it's easy. There are variations on the theme of pide in Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. In Turkey there are pide street food shops called “pideci”.

If you'd like to see what it looks like, check out the bread label on the blog. If you fancy having a go you can make the pide ahead and then freeze it. Defrosted and warmed it's excellent.

Now for the shop-bought bread ideas …