Manakish Za'atar

Ingredients

• 500g strong white bread flour
• 7g instant dried yeast
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 1.5 tsp fine salt
• 60ml olive oil, plus extra for the bowl
• 310ml lukewarm water
• 60g za'atar blend
• 100ml extra virgin olive oil for the topping
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
• Sliced tomato, cucumber and mint leaves, to serve

Before you cook

• Weigh the flour into a large bowl and stir through the yeast, sugar and salt.
• Measure the lukewarm water, which should feel neutral rather than warm on your wrist.
• Mix the za'atar with the hundred millilitres of extra virgin olive oil in a small bowl to make a loose, spoonable paste and leave it to sit.

Steps

1. Pour the water and the sixty millilitres of olive oil into the flour and mix with your hand until no dry flour remains.
2. Turn the dough onto a work surface and knead it for eight to ten minutes until it is smooth and springs back when you press it.
3. Put the dough in an oiled bowl, cover it, and leave it somewhere warm for ninety minutes until doubled in size.
4. Slide a baking stone or a heavy upturned baking tray into the oven and heat the oven to its maximum, at least 250C.
5. Knock the dough back and divide it into six equal pieces of about one hundred and forty grams each.
6. Roll each piece into a tight ball, cover them, and rest them for fifteen minutes so the gluten relaxes.
7. Flatten one ball with your fingertips into a round about twenty centimetres across and roughly half a centimetre thick.
8. Press dimples across the surface with your fingertips, leaving a slightly thicker rim around the edge.
9. Spoon two tablespoons of the za'atar paste onto the round and spread it right to the rim with the back of the spoon.
10. Shape and top the remaining dough the same way.
11. Slide two manakish at a time onto the hot stone or tray and bake them for six to eight minutes, until the base is set and the edges are just golden.
12. Pull them out while the bread is still pale and soft rather than crisp, because manakish should fold without cracking.
13. Scatter over the toasted sesame seeds and serve hot with tomato, cucumber and mint.