Mana'eesh Zaatar

Mana’eesh are simple flatbreads baked like a pizza with any number of toppings. Here’s the one I like, topped with Zaatar and tomatoes. These days you’ll also find them topped with cheese, ground lamb or beef, or even eggs, though zaatar is the classic recipe.

Ingredients

Makes 2 large flatbreads

• Basic dough
  • 1 batch
• Zaatar
  • Between 1/8 and 1/4 cup, to taste
• Tomato (optional)
  • 1 medium
• Olive oil
  • 1/4 cup

Recipe

1. Make a batch of dough (see the Ajeenah recipe).
2. Preheat your oven to 450° F.
3. Oil a medium baking pan and spread the dough with your hands evenly. It should be about 1/4 inch thick. If you have too much dough, split it and make two mana’eesh instead of one thick one.
4. Finely dice the tomato, taking the seeds and juice out.
5. Mix the olive oil, zaatar, and diced tomatoes together in a bowl. It should be more like a paste than a liquid. Add more zaatar or more oil to get it into a spreadable consistency.
6. Using a fork, make some indentations in the dough and then spread the thyme, oil, and tomato mixture evenly across it, leaving the outer 1/4 inch clean for the crust.
7. Bake for about 12-15 minutes, until the edges are golden brown.