I baked these on 1/8/05 on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. I'm still trying to figure out bread making, so it was a little rough going. I halved the recipe and the balls of dough were pretty tiny. I was being rushed when I was making them into circles because we were going to see a movie so I don't think I stretched them enough... would have made excellent pizza if I streched them thin and added toppings. I might try that.

We had this in a turkish restaurant in Williamsburgh and would like to try and recreate it.

During the holy month of Ramadan a flat bread called PIDE becomes available in the bakeries. Families eat this bread with their meals after fasting during the day. Turkish style "pita bread" is not the pocket bread that is known as Arabic or pita bread. It is a flatbread that looks like a hand shaped quilt and is always eaten fresh from the baker's oven.

Pide
Turkish flatbread

8 tsp. Dry yeast
1 tsp. Sugar
1 cup warm water
1 cup flour

Dissolve dry yeast and sugar in a warm water and let stand in a warm place 10 minutes until frothy. Stir in the flour, cover with plastic wrap and let rise 30 minutes. This makes the sponge.

7 cups flour
2 tsp. Salt
6 Tbsp. Olive oil
2 cups & 2 Tbsp. Lukewarm water

Put flour in a large bowl, make a well in the center and add the sponge salt, olive oil and lukewarm water. Gradually work in the flour to make a soft and sticky dough. Knead the dough on a floured surface for 15 minutes. Put the dough in a buttered bowl, cover and let rise 1-hour. Divide dough into quarters and each quarter into ten pieces, shaping each into a ball. Cover and let rest 30 minutes. Shape each piece of dough into a circle by flattening the dough and stretching it. Bake for 10 minutes at 450 degrees (F)