Manoush (a personal Lebanese style pizza)

Posted by Fatmeh in Appetiezer, Side Dish, Vegetarian on 01 25th, 2009 | Comments

This one of the most popular Lebanese breakfast items. Most people buy it from the bakery, but it is hard to find Lebanese bakery around my area. I tried so many recipes from books and online but I was not satisfied. Finally I called my brother in-law who owns a Manoush bakery in Lebanon and he was very generous to give me the recipe and I can tell you it is the best one .

Prep time 30 min Bake time 1 hour Level easy

Ingredients

6 cups of flour
1 tbsp of sugar
1 tsp salt
1/3 tsp of Mahlab (optional)
2 tbsp of yeast
2 cups of water
3/4 cup of milk
zaatar ( thyme , sumac , sesame seeds, salt) mixed with olive oil until it become like paste

Direction

Mix the dry ingredients (flour, salt, sugar, Mahlab and yeast) then add water and milk.
Kneed the dough very well leave it slightly sticky. If it is too sticky add about 1 tbsp of flour at a time and kneed .
Cover and let it rest after 1 hour the dough should double the size now pushit down and kneed again for a little bit.
Now divide the dough into 8 small round dough and dust them with flour ( you can cover with a plastic bag and let it rest for another 30 minutes but if you are in a hurry you can skip this step).
Bring out the rolling pin and on a clean dry surface sprinkle flour and start rolling the dough one by one into a round mini pizza size. If the dough is sticking to the rolling pin just sprinkle more flour over it.
Place 2 pieces of the dough side by side in a baking tray and let it sit for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile heat the oven at 400 degree.
Spread the Zaatar/olive oil paste on top of the dough (you can put as much as you want, I like extra Zaatar on it) then bake for about 15 to 20 minutes, check the bottom of it if it is golden brown that means it is ready .

Tip: It is great with tea.