Flatbread With Zaatar Recipes

LAMB FLATBREAD WITH ZA'ATAR

Steps:

• Make the dough: In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, dissolve yeast and sugar in water. Stir in 1 cup flour to form a thin batter. Leave to rest until mixture is bubbly, about 20 minutes.
• Add remaining flour, olive oil and salt. Mix until dough comes together, then knead until smooth, about 5 minutes. The dough should be soft and a bit sticky; dust lightly with flour as necessary. Return dough to bowl, cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour. (Alternatively, put dough in a resealable plastic bag and refrigerate overnight.)
• Meanwhile, prepare the filling: Put 3 tablespoons olive oil in a wide skillet over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, add onions, season generously with salt and stir to coat. Cook, stirring, until softened and nicely browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook for 1 minute more.
• Add lamb to skillet and mash into onions with a large spoon until crumbled. Sprinkle with salt, then stir in pepper, clove, allspice, cayenne, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, sumac and pomegranate molasses. Turn heat to low and stir to combine. Cook for 5 minutes, until meat is just cooked through. Transfer mixture to a rimmed baking sheet and spread out to cool. (You will have a bit more lamb filling than you need - it's good on buttered toast for a cook's treat.)
• Heat oven to 450 degrees. Punch down dough and divide into 8 2 1/2-ounce pieces. Knead each piece into a ball. Cover with a damp towel and let dough rest 20 to 30 minutes, then roll thinly or stretch each piece into a 6-inch round. Make the dough as thin as possible.
• Arrange 4 rolled-out dough rounds on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush each with a generous amount of za'atar-oil mixture over dough (all the way to the edges or you'll get a puffed up "lip"). Make a layer of thinly sliced or crumbled feta, then sprinkle 1/4 cup of the cooled lamb mixture over the entire surface. Sprinkle on a few pine nuts, if using. Press topping down with the palm of your hand.
• Bake 4 flatbreads at a time, on the upper rack of the oven, for 5 to 8 minutes or until puffed and lightly browned. The dough should still be soft and pliable, not crisp. Serve hot or at room temperature, garnished with parsley, mint and cilantro leaves, whole or roughly chopped.

MAN'OUSHE

Steps:

• To make the dough, in a bowl of a stand mixer (if mixing by hand, use a large bowl), sprinkle the yeast over the water along with the sugar and let sit in a warm place until the yeast starts to bubble, about 10 minutes.
• Stir in the olive oil, flour, and salt. If using a stand mixer, use the dough hook attachment. If mixing by hand, stir with a wood spoon or spatula until it becomes too thick to stir, then turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter. Knead the dough in the machine on medium-high speed, or by hand, until the dough forms a smooth ball, but is slightly sticky when you touch it with your finger. It'll take about 5 minutes and will pull away from the sides of the mixer bowl. Cover the dough in the bowl with a kitchen towel, and let rise in a warm place until the dough doubles in volume, about 1 1/2 hours.
• To make the flatbreads, preheat the oven to 500ºF/260ºC and move the oven rack to the upper third of the oven. Set a baking steel on the rack. (Check the manufacturer's instructions for your baking steel or stone.) Otherwise, line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Preheat the baking steel or stone for 45 minutes.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured countertop and divide the dough into six pieces. Roll each piece of dough into a small oval, rolling it just until each starts to resist. When each one does, set it aside on the countertop and begin rolling another. Continue to roll each of the six pieces of dough into ovals, stopping when the dough starts stretching back on itself.
• When ready to bake, take the first oval of dough and roll it out to its final size, adding a bit more flour if necessary to keep it from sticking to the counter or rolling pin, turning it over a few times to ensure it's not sticking. Roll it until it's about 12-inch long by 4- or 5-inches wide (30cm by 10- to 12cm).
• Spread the oval with a layer of the za'atar mixture, about 1 1/2 tablespoons per flatbread leaving, not quite reaching the edge so there's space for a crust. Don't worry about any bare spots when smearing on the za'atar: it doesn't need to be perfect.
• (Note: My za'atar was quite fresh, and strong. But if yours isn't, you can use more of the topping is you wish. If you need more for spreading, mix za'atar and olive oil together in even amounts.)
• Lift the finished flatbread with your hands, or slide a pizza peel dusted with flour underneath, and transfer the flatbread on the baking steel or stone. Continue rolling and topping the rest of the flatbreads, baking each until the crust is golden brown, about 7 minutes.
• (If you don't have a pizza peel and are worried about transferring the dough, another option is to cut six sheets of parchment paper to a size that will fit under the rolled dough, then transfer the unbaked flatbreads to the parchment paper before smearing them with za'atar. Leave the parchment paper under the flatbreads and lift them, holding the ends of the paper, then bake the man'oushe breads on the parchment paper, setting them directly on the baking steel or stone.)
• Remove the flatbreads from the oven when the crusts are golden brown and serve warm or at room temperature.

MIDDLE EASTERN ZAATAR (MANAKISH ZA'ATAR)

Steps:

• I use this simple Middle Eastern Dough. This recipe will require about an hour and a half (due to the hour-long proving time), so plan accordingly.
• Once the dough is prepared, split it into 5 equal pieces for larger breads or 8 pieces for medium-sized breads. You can weigh it out for complete accuracy, but I just do this by eye.
• Roll out the dough pieces with a rolling pin into round pizza-shaped pieces around 1/4-inch in thickness.
• Use your fingers to lightly dimple the top of the bread. This will not only help keep the topping in place as the bread bakes, but it will also stop it from puffing up too much in the oven. You can do this step before or after adding the topping. I did it after this particular time, as I forgot to do it before - whoops!
• Place an inverted tray or a pizza stone in the oven and preheat it to the highest it can possibly reach (Mine is 500ºF/260ºC).
• In a small bowl combine the za'atar and olive oil and mix well into a paste similar to pesto rather than a thick paste.
• Top each of the Middle Eastern Flatbread with some of the za'atar oil blend, leaving about a 1/2-1 inch 'crust' at the edges.Feel free to increase/decrease the amount of topping that you add based on how strong you want the flavor to be.
• Transfer the topped zaatar bread onto the pre-heated inverted oven tray (or pizza stone). Do this carefully, so you don't burn yourself.
• Bake for between 5-7 minutes, until it's lightly golden-brown, without burning the spices on top.
• Remove the manakish za'atar from the oven and allow it to cool slightly. This will allow the topping to 'dry' to the flatbread. Then, enjoy- make sure to wrap/cover it with a kitchen towel to keep the bread soft.
• Store: Store the baked zaatar bread in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. If you used oil in the dough in place of oil then you can store the bread at room temperature for 3-5 days (covered).Freezer: Wrap the zaatar manakish tightly with plastic wrap and store in the freezer for up to three months, Thaw in the refrigerator before enjoying or heat from frozen.Reheat: You can reheat the bread from frozen in the oven at 250ºF/120ºC until warmed through (20-25 minutes usually). If heating from chilled or room temperature, then reduce the time in the oven.

GRILLED ZA'ATAR BREAD

Steps:

• To make the Flatbread: Whisk together flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in the workbowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add in yogurt or milk and olive and mix at low speed until dough comes together. Dough should stick to the bottom of bowl as it kneads, if it is not, add in extra yogurt or milk 1 tablespoon at a time as necessary. Increase speed to medium-high and knead for 5 minutes. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times until a smooth ball forms. Place dough in a large bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise as room temperature until doubled in size, about 2 hours. Turn dough out onto a floured work surface and cut into 6 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and place on a baking sheet or floured surface, cover with plastic wrap or damp cloth, and let rise at room temperature until doubled in volume, about 2 hours.
• Light one chimney full of charcoal. When all charcoal is lit and covered with gray ash, pour out and arrange coals on one side of charcoal grate. Set cooking grate in place, cover grill, and allow to preheat for 5 minutes. Clean and oil grilling grate. On a floured surface, roll each piece of dough out into a circle roughly 8-inches in diameter. Place one or two pieces of dough on hot side of grill and cook until browned and lightly charred in spots. Flip bread and continue to cook until second side is browned and lightly charred in spots. Transfer bread to cool side of grill, brush with olive oil and season generously with za'atar. Transfer to cutting board and slice bread into 6 equal pieces. Repeat with remaining dough. Serve immediately with labneh topped with olive oil and za'atar for for dipping.

GRILLED FLATBREADS WITH ZA'ATAR

Steps:

• Place 1 1/4 cups warm water in small bowl. Sprinkle yeast over. Let stand until yeast dissolves, about 10 minutes. Whisk 3 cups flour and salt in large bowl. Add yeast mixture and 2 tablespoons oil. Using wooden spoon, mix until sticky dough forms. Turn out onto floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, sprinkling with more flour if very sticky, about 6 minutes.
• Oil another large bowl. Add dough; turn to coat. Cover with plastic wrap. Let dough rise until doubled in volume, about 1 1/2 hours. Punch down dough; divide into 6 pieces. Shape each piece into ball. Roll out each on lightly floured surface to 7x4-inch oval.
• Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Grill each flatbread until cooked through and golden, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer hot flatbreads to board. Brush with olive oil; sprinkle with za'atar. Serve warm or at room temperature.