flatbread

DISCLAIMER: this post has absolutely nothing to do with the fabulously red vegetable slicer pictured in the last post. Sorry!

My first encounter with flatbread, was an intolerable ad for the golden arches’ newly invented chicken flatbread in Vancouver in 2003. I thought it was a weird cross between a tortilla and a pizza and vowed never to try it. However, the donna hay magazine that already brought you potstickers, had a recipe for flatbread in it as well which I tried. And liked.

Flatbread tastes like a cross between focaccia (a word the germans love to pronounce for some reason, saying with a lot of emphasis on the tchia at the end!) and emerican style pizza. The yeast dough is made with milk, and uses more of it than you would use water to make pizza dough. Meaning, the flatbread gets very doughy and chewy and tasty! I could get all poetic about how pillowy and and savoury and whatevery it was, but I’ll let you find out for yourself.

Our flatbread was topped with some thyme and lemon marinated mozzarella (which I marinated for all of 5 min, due to my permanent lack of TIME!) and it was so good, it was still tasty eaten cold in my office the next day! You could use any kind of simple topping, although I wouldn’t really use it as a base for anything saucy, rather something simple (Donna, my high priestess of all things caloric, suggests using caramelised shallots or simply salt and rosemary).

Flatbread topped with Marinated Mozzarella

adapted from donna hay magazine
prep time: 30 min, active time: 10 min, baking time: 15-20 min,

for the dough

2 tsp of active dry yeast
1 tsp of sugar
1 1/3 cup of lukewarm milk
2 1/2 cup of white flour

1 tsp salt
1 tbsp of oilve oil and more for brushing

silicon mat / parchment paper

In a small bowl combine the yeast, milk and sugar and set aside in a warmish place until bubbles rise to the surface – about 5 min.
Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a baking sheet with a silicon mat or parchment paper. In a bigger mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt, olive oil and the yeast mixture and knead with a handmixer fitted with dough hooks. Add some extra flour if the dough is too sticky. When you have reached an elastic consistency, cover the bowl with a clean towel and let rest until doubled in size – about 20 min.

Press the dough to about 1.5 c thickness onto a your baking tray covered with the silicon mat or parchment paper. Brush with oil and / or the topiing of your choice. Bake for 15-20 min or until golden. Serve warm.

For the Mozzarella

1 ball of buffalo mozzarella packed in brine
2 tbsp of lemon zest
2 tbsp of fresh thyme
about 1/4 cup of olive oil

Tear the mozzarella into small pieces and place in a shallow plate or bowl. Add the thyme and lemon zest and cover with the olive oil. Leave to rest until ready to use. It should keep for a couple of days covered and refrigerated. The flavors intensify with time.

For more immediately intense flavors, you could infuse the olive oil with the lemon zest and thyme by putting them with the oil in a shallow frying pan and gently heating it up for a couple of minutes. Don’t forget to cool down the oil before you add it to the mozzarella or you’ll end with a gloppy mess!