Frena; Moroccan/MiddleEaster Bread

Being a Moroccan girl, this bread is a staple. I subconsciously choose it over dessert, which says a lot. It has a lot in common with Pita Bread, just way fluffier, fuller and in some places even crunchy.  Goes terribly well with humus, mitbocha, fried or roasted aubergine, saucy types of fish/Moroccan Fish and so many more options. (recipes coming soon)

Things You’ll Need:

• 13 1/2 Cups Flour
• 1 Cube Wet (Live) Yeast (or around 1 envelope dry yeast) -[Recipe calls for wet, I prefer dry]
• 1 Tbsp Sugar
• 1 1/2 Tbsp Salt
• 5 3/4 Cups of Water
• 1 Whisked Egg  (If oven baked)

Place the yeast and sugar in a bowl, add 3/4 cup of water and let sit for a minute. In a larger bowl mix the flour and the salt, then add the yeast mixture and the 5 cups of water. Knead well by hand until you get a beautiful, smooth, flexible texture.

Cover the dough with aluminum or plastic wrap and leave in a warm place to rise for an hour. (In the winter it takes longer to rise so wait until you see it double in size.)

Knead again for a couple of minutes with floury hands and divide into 5 parts. Knead each part a bit and create 5 balls, leave on a floury surface for about 30 minutes to rise again.

Flatten each ball of dough to about the size of a medium plate.

Now we have two options; to either oven bake them, or i like to use a stone pan, or a pizza oven. If you have a brick oven.. Your lucky, use that :)

Oven Baking:

Brush the egg on top of each circle and bake in a pre-heated 375 degree oven for 20-25 minutes. You will know it’s ready when the smell of heavenly bread will spread all over the house and the top of the bread will be a golden brown color.

Stone Pan Baking:

On a medium flame heat  pan for 30 seconds, or until hot. Place round of dough on hot pan leave for about 6-7 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. You will have to babysit the bread because burning is very easy on an open flame. DO NOT BRUSH EGG FOR THIS METHOD.

I recommend using a stone pan, or a dutch pan, but if you prefer this method and don’t have one, you CAN use a normal non-stick pan.

The only warning I can share with you, is do not finish all the bread before your guests arrive.

(Always yummiest to place in the oven for a couple of minutes before indulging.)