Za'atar Manaqeesh
Local name : مناقيش زعتر
Soft flatbreads spread with za'atar and olive oil and baked fiercely hot, the Lebanese breakfast everybody grows up on.
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 12 min
- Total
- 37 min
- Serves
- 4
- Difficulty
- Medium
Method
- Stir the yeast and sugar into the warm water and leave for 10 minutes until foaming.
- Mix the flour and salt, pour in the yeast liquid and the oil, then knead for 8 minutes to a soft, smooth dough.
- Cover and prove for 1 hour somewhere warm, until doubled in size.
- Heat the oven to 250°C with a baking tray inside. Divide the dough into four balls and roll each into a 20 cm disc.
- Stir the za'atar into the olive oil to make a thick paste and spread it generously over the discs, leaving a 1 cm border.
- Bake on the scorching tray for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are golden but the bread is still soft. Serve hot, folded, with raw vegetables.
In Lebanon manaqeesh come from the neighbourhood bakery at dawn and get eaten folded in half on the walk home. Preheating the tray mimics a stone oven and keeps the base pliable.
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