Lavash style flat bread - perfect for a Middle-Eastern feast
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| My slightly too plump Lavash breads - but they were scrummy. |
But every once in a while you forget how much you hate kneading and you decide it would be lovely to make some home-made bread for your loved ones. Fill the house with that lovely smell, show them the love and other such deluded thoughts. You mix everything together in a bowl and full of hope tip the dough onto the floured surface and get on with it everytime forgetting to remove your rings before it's too late. But the moment the dough hits the work surface the concept of time changes.You don't notice immediately, you keep going pretending it's not the most boring thing in the world including Ed Sheeran and then eventually you think it must be getting close to the magical 10 minutes that always seems to be the requirement set by sadistical home-ec teacher types with arms of steel who can whisk eggwhites into stiff peaks by hand without the smiles on their ruddy faces faltering once.
So you glance at your watch. If it's an iWatch it will ask you "How can I help you" instead of showing the time which you'd think is the obvious thing you'd like it to help you with, apart from kneading, obviously. You moved your arm in way that is not recognised by the Apple corporation, so you do some other weird arm movements to get the time, because you don't want to press the watch face with your fingers covered with the evil dough which refuses to stop sticking everywhere no matter how much flour you keep adding. So finally after much arm flailing you get the time. It's been a minute and a half.
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| Baba Ghanoush prettified with some Iranian rose petals. |
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| Beetroot hummus with bluecheese and walnuts. |
But even with the pain of kneading it is still worth it, so I have been baking a bit more lately. I made some really healthy, but possibly a bit dense wholewheat and seed rolls for husband the other night and there may be a French pot loaf happening soon.
This lavash was really lovely served with baked Camembert and some other pretty dips. All light and fluffy, pretty easy to make and 6 minutes of kneading will do!
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| Top tip: If you'd like your Lavash thinner, make them thinner. |
Lavash breads (makes 8 small breads)
2 cups Greek yoghurt1 tbsp honey
1 tsp salt
1 bag dried yeast
3 1/4 cups strong bread flour
1/4 cup oil
to finish:
1 egg
3 tbsp poppy or sesame seeds
Heat the yoghurt in microwave until lukewarm. Mix in honey, salt and yeast. Add in the flour mixing it in little by little. Add the oil. Tip onto floured table top and knead as long as you can, but until it forms a nice ball that's not sticking everywhere adding flour if necessary. 5-6 minutes should do the trick. If you have a stand mixer, for God's sakes use it.
Place back in the bowl and cover with a cloth. Leave to proof for 30 minutes or until it's doubled in size - sometimes it seems to take a lot longer than half an hour.
Devide the dough into 8 pieces. Shape the pieces into thin round discs onto baking sheets covered with grease-proof paper. Leave to proof for 30 minutes.
Prick the breads with a fork and brush with eggwash and sprinkle some poppy or sesame seeds on top. Bake in 225 C for 12-15 minutes.
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