Manoushe Za'atar (Beirut Thyme Flatbread) 🌿

Method

1. 1

   Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm milk-water, rest 10 min. Add flour, oil and salt, knead 8 min to a soft, slightly tacky dough. Oil the bowl, cover, rise 1-1.5 h until doubled.

2. 2

   Whisk za'atar with olive oil into a thick, pourable paste — roughly 1:2 by volume; good oil is half the flavour.

3. 3

   Heat the oven as high as it goes (250C+/500F+) with an inverted baking sheet or pizza steel for 30 min.

4. 4

   Divide dough into 8 balls. Stretch each on a floured top into a loose oval about 20 cm — dimple, don't roll perfectly; manoushe is freeform.

5. 5

   Spread a generous stripe of za'atar paste down the centre leaving a 2 cm border (or scatter cheese + a thread of oil).

6. 6

   Slide onto the screaming-hot steel, bake 5-8 min until the base is lacquered brown and the rim puffs and blisters.

7. 7

   Fold the hot bread in half and eat immediately, with tea, za'atar-stained fingers included. Second-best day: warm briefly, never microwave-soft.