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Turkish cheese toasties

• Hasan Semay

Published: March 11, 2026 at 2:44 PM

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Makes 4

More effort

Prep: 20 mins

Cook: 40 mins

plus 1 hr 20 mins rising and cooling

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Try a Turkish-style version of a cheese toastie from Hasan Semay (aka Big Has), stuffed with Turkish cheese and sausage. It comes with a spicy salsa rossa (red sauce) for dipping. Make them in a conventional oven or pizza oven.

Egg-free

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This recipe is from our Spin the Dish YouTube series, where seasoned cooks reimagine a classic dish, adding a unique spin inspired by their heritage.

Ingredients

Nutrition

Units:

MetricUS

For the dough

• 15g fresh yeast

  or a 7g sachet fast-action dried yeast

• 2 tbsp olive oil

  plus extra for proving

• 1 tsp caster sugar

• 550g plain flour

• coarse semolina

  for shaping

For the salsa rossa

• 2 x 400g cans plum tomatoes

• 4 red chillies

  (left whole, including the stalks)

• 6 garlic cloves

• 1 tbsp olive oil

  plus extra to drizzle

• 2 tbsp toasted fennel seeds

  ground using a pestle and mortar

• 1 tsp toasted coriander seeds

  ground using a pestle and mortar

• 50ml white wine vinegar

• 50g honey

For the filling

• 120g kaşar peyniri

• 100g dil peyniri

  (or mozzarella or cheddar)

• 1 sucuk (Turkish breakfast sausage)

  about 80g (or pepperoni or chorizo)

• 15g parmesan

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Nutrition: per serving

• kcal950
• fat32g
• saturates13g
• carbs126g
• sugars20g
• fibre8g
• protein36g
• salt2.77g

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Method

• step 1

  For the dough, crumble the yeast into a bowl with 340ml lukewarm water. Mix in the olive oil and sugar, then leave to activate for 15 mins until foamy.

• step 2

  Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, sift in the flour and add 1 tsp salt. Make a well in the middle and slowly pour in the yeast mixture, stirring it together to form a shaggy dough using a spoon or your hand. Tip out onto your work surface and knead until you have a soft, smooth dough. This will take about 15 mins by hand or knead in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook for about 7 mins. Transfer the dough to a large, oiled mixing bowl. Cover and leave to prove at room temperature for 1 hr or until doubled in size.

• step 3

  Meanwhile, for the salsa rossa, heat the oven to 230C/210C fan/gas 8. In a wide ovenproof pan, mix the tomatoes, chillies, garlic and olive oil with a large pinch of salt. Cook for 15-20 mins until the chillies start to colour and the liquid from the tomatoes has reduced. Remove the pan from the oven and stir in the spices. Return to the oven for 5 mins to thicken up slightly.

• step 4

  Put the pan on a medium-high heat. Bring the mixture to a bubble and stir in the vinegar and honey, scraping any bits that have stuck to the sides. Remove from the heat and whizz with a hand blender until fairly smooth (it doesn’t have to be completely smooth). Scrape into a bowl and drizzle over a little extra olive oil. Leave to cool.

• step 5

  Tip the dough out onto a clean work surface and split it into four equal pieces. Shape into balls, cover with a clean tea towel and allow to rise again at room temperature for 20 mins (leaving them on the work surface is fine) until soft and full of air.

• step 6

  Heat the oven to 240C/220C fan/gas 9 (or if you have a pizza oven, heat it to 400C). Scatter some semolina on your work surface and lay the dough on top. The key is establishing the crust first. About 2.5cm in from the edge, push your fingers all the way around the dough until you’ve made a clear border that will form the crust, then flip the dough over and do the same on the other side. Push the palms of your hands into the crust line and pull the dough outwards in each direction, performing a quarter turn every time. The first time you do this, it’ll look a bit of an odd shape, but each time you turn the dough, it’ll ensure that the shape stays somewhat circular. Stretch the dough until the base is almost see-through. Repeat with the other dough balls.

• step 7

  If baking in the oven, transfer the dough to a couple of flat baking sheets that have been lined with baking parchment. To stop the middle from rising up during cooking, prick the centre of each one a few times with a fork. Cook in the oven (or in a pizza oven) for 4-6 mins until lightly golden.

• step 8

  Remove from the oven and grate or tear a layer of both cheeses over the bases. Thinly slice the sausage and arrange on top. Sprinkle over any remaining cheese and return to the oven for 4 mins until the crusts feel set and the cheese is golden.

• step 9

  Fold each one in half so they look like a calzone. Grate over the parmesan and serve with the salsa for dipping.

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