Читать книгу Feasts From the Middle East - Tony Kitous - Страница 20

Man’eesh or man’ousha is to the Lebanese what pizza is to the Italians. You’ll find it everywhere in the Middle East. Stuff it with mint, tomatoes, cucumber and pickles, then roll up into a sandwich, if you like. This recipe also works with gluten-free flour. (see here for photo.)

SPICED TOMATO FLATBREADS

MAN’OUSHA BANADORA BIL ZA’ATAR

SERVES 6

FOR THE DOUGH

1 tsp dried yeast

1 tsp caster sugar

100ml water

250g white bread flour

1 tbsp vegetable oil

50ml milk

½ tsp salt

FOR THE TOPPING

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

2 onions, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

2 tomatoes, finely chopped, plus extra to garnish

3 tbsp za’atar

small bunch of thyme, finely chopped

salt and black pepper

TO SERVE

1 ripe tomato, finely chopped

few sprigs of thyme

toasted sesame seeds

extra-virgin olive oil, to drizzle

Put the yeast in a bowl and add a pinch of the sugar. Pour in half the water and set aside for 5 minutes to allow the yeast to activate.

Sift the flour into another bowl, make a well in the middle, add the yeast mixture, then the remaining sugar, the rest of the water, the oil, milk and salt. Stir together to make a dough, then knead on a board until smooth. Put in a clean bowl, cover and set aside to rise for 20–30 minutes.

To make the topping, heat the oil in a medium saucepan and cook the onions over a low heat for 10–15 minutes, until softened. Stir in the garlic, season well and cook for 1–2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook for about 10 minutes until they have broken down and softened, and the mixture looks juicy. Add the za’atar and thyme, increase the heat a little and cook for 3–5 minutes to thicken slightly.

Preheat the oven to its highest setting; it needs to be very hot. If you have a pizza stone, put it in now. Or use two large baking sheets.

Next, shape the dough. Divide it into three pieces and roll each piece into a round. To create a pattern round the edge, crimp the dough using your thumb and forefinger, holding a little bit of the outside edge and pushing into the dough with the forefinger of the opposite hand to create a pattern. Do this all the way round, then crimp the edges on the two other rounds of dough.

Once the pizza stone or baking sheets are hot, slide the dough on to them. Spoon the tomato mixture on top, spreading it out to the side, then bake in the oven for 7–10 minutes until the bread is golden.

Once cooked, slide the flatbreads onto a board. Scatter over the chopped tomato, thyme and sesame seeds, and drizzle with olive oil.