HOW TO PREPARE THE PERFECT ZA'ATAR FLATBREAD

So here we have 335 grams of plain flour and to that I'm actually going to add a teaspoon of dry yeast as well as just a teaspoon of some salt. I'm always wary about salt so I try to cut down as much as I can but you know you can. I don't think that's one teaspoon but and then also a teaspoon of sugar. I'll do that's enough. So here you have the 335 grams of plain flour, one teaspoon full of the dry yeast, one teaspoon full of sugar as well as a teaspoon full of salt and I've just placed that in my mixer which I'm just going to mix together now and whilst that's mixing I'm actually using the bread hook for this one. I'm going to add about one tablespoon full of olive oil which is just perfect so you can just mix and then add about 200 milliliters of warm water and I've actually just placed on a low setting because I don't want all the flour and everything to actually go everywhere. Now this is a searing recipe that I'm using and I'm making. So here I've actually placed on a low setting you can see it's perfectly mixed I'm just going to increase it now and I'm going to leave this to actually mix for at least for about five six minutes. I want it to be silky, I want it to be smooth and I want it to be stretchy as well. So here you have your bread mix and as you can see it's just perfect now and all the little grains that I can see. So yes what I'm actually going to do is I'm actually going to roll it into a ball on a flat surface, roll it into a ball and just leave it to proof or to rise so which means it will double up in size. Now I'm a bit lazy so instead I actually do it in the mixer as well so I just add a little bit of flour and I just roll it into the ball and leave it there. There's no point in removing it and putting another ball and then removing it from another ball back in so no it's too much. It has to be easy but of course equally tasty never compromising on the flavour or the taste or the process at all whatsoever. That's a problem when you're trying to film with one hand and scoop something with the other hand it's always a bit of a challenge there we go yeah right I had to give up because I want to show you this so definitely I have to roll it for you to see so there we go so you see it's just forming to that perfect ball there. I'm just going to leave this to rise now okay look at that beauty that's stunning isn't it? Just back into the mixer it goes and I'm actually going to cover it with some cling film and leave it in a warm place for about an hour and a half and it will double up in size and then we're up for more. So here we have the bread dough and you can see it's now doubled up in size which is just perfect. Now what I'm actually going to do I'm going to use a slate to bake this yes you heard me right a slate and I'm just going to actually dust it with a bit of flour and then going to place my bread dough on there and roll it use a rolling pin and just roll it into a into a lovely circle because that's what I want. So there you are my dodgy circle but you know that works for me and yes so to this well I've just rolled it on there just so I can get the shape and now I'm actually preheating the slate so I'm putting in the oven for 220 degrees for about 15 minutes before I actually add the dough so here I have got the dough that I've rolled and all I'm just doing is using my fingers to actually indent just create some indentation and I'm actually going to brush it with some extra virgin oil. Now what this is going to do this is going to help so when I actually add the herbs it will stick to it as well and it's quite yummy and it makes it moist and perfect and you can see the dough is soft and it's nice look at that just going to brush it all but make sure that I don't leave any part out so just brush it evenly just as I've done don't overdo it and now I'm going to show you how to make za'atar so to that I've got 150 grams of sesame seeds and then I'm actually going to add 150 grams of wild dried thyme it's beautiful and I prefer to use the wild one because I think it's punchier than you know it has that flavor that extra wildness about it so it's yummy I like that and yes I've got the thyme here and I'm also going to add a little bit of a twist I'm going to add some oregano and some dried oregano and some marjoram these are readily available in your local supermarket so you can definitely grab some and then the good old sumac which actually has a lemony taste to it and it's beautiful as a Middle Eastern spice and it's just just beautiful especially when you actually top it over your salads and stuff it's yummy and I'm just going to add about two tablespoons of salt to this it's just because that's the flavor I want you want it tangy slightly a bit on the salty side I know I keep talking about not adding too much salt but this you do need but I mean then again you can actually take it out it's not a problem and I'm going to mix everything together and that's actually my za'atar mix you know and it's beautiful I sort of grew up with this because I did spend some time with Lebanese families briefly and that is what like for breakfast we always used to have this on flatbread so I'm definitely inspired by this definitely so yes yeah I have got my za'atar and whatever is left I can actually put in the airtight container that could last me for about four weeks anyway airtight container because you don't want the whole spice and everything to go and I'm just going to evenly distribute my za'atar mix all over my bread now and if you notice I've actually taken the slate out so it is hot and so of course the reason why I've actually made it hot first is just so that it cooks the base and the base becomes crispy and the worst thing you want is actually to have a soggy base now I've actually found here some smoked mozzarella that my husband got me from Italy and I'm actually going to drizzle this on top of it yes yes yes now the thing is I'm drizzling I'm just going to drizzle this on top of it and I'm going to bake it till it actually goes all brown and I want that to use for my salad later so even though it's on the bread I'm going to take it out and actually add it to my salad and it's just going to be really really really yummy because it's going to have that smokiness and tanginess and that's exactly what I like about adding flavors and enhancing the natural flavors of things so I'm just going to place this on the oven and that should cook for about you know 25 minutes on a gas heat of about 200 degrees Celsius and here we have it my za'atar mix is ready and you can see the brown perfect smoked mozzarella so now I'm going to make my salad and that was some chopped cucumber some tomatoes and shallots and I've taken the mozzarella bits out of the za'atar and I've added it to this I'm going to add everything adding the cucumber the tomatoes and the onions together I'll drizzle with a little bit of olive oil and then just mix everything together now there is no need for me to add any salt or anything because there's salt and everything already in the za'atar mix and yeah just drizzle it over that's just beautiful you know that is just yummy I like this actually I mean you can have this on its own again you know you can just have it like that um for your lunch or work and that would be yummy actually so yeah so for 200 and um 20 um sorry for 200 degrees um for about 25 minutes there we have it and look how beautiful it is that is just stunning you can just count I wish you could actually just smell the freshness of the dough the bread and you know that sort of tangy almost aromatic taste um of the spices that's actually layered on top of it it is beautiful I love it I really really really do and here I'm actually just using my own little pizza um cutter and I'm actually just going to cut a slice because I want you to see the base to know that yes this has actually been done really well um and you know I hope you are inspired by my recipes and I hope you do try them um you know most of the ingredients and stuff if you don't have any just try and find a substitute for it and look at how beautiful that is you see I told you oh oh look at that and it's just perfect it's exactly how I wanted it as well so yes here you have my za'atar um za'atar mix um so we call I call a za'atar on a bread on a flat bread and there it is just so beautiful you know um I've enjoyed actually having you guys again it's in doodoo by fafa on my Facebook and Instagram pages and on my blog you know and I really enjoy making those videos and I hope you do share subscribe tell everybody about it and thank you very much for watching it's in doodoo by fafa. Cheerio!