Right after I made my own za’atar and filled a nice little jar, the very first thing I wanted to try was some zaatar mini flatbreads.
Making zaatar at home is extremely simple — I thought at first it would be a complicated recipe! It’s true that sometimes we’re intimidated by what we don’t know, only to discover the difficulties were in our heads and our indecisions. So now zaatar has no secrets for me 😃 and I’ve started using it everywhere.
This first, essential test had to be this recipe. Making flatbreads with zaatar is a tradition common to all Middle Eastern countries: where there’s zaatar you’ll often find flatbreads, small or large, crisp or soft, topped with only zaatar (and oil) or with additions like tomatoes, olives, onions, and various Mediterranean vegetables.
So that’s what I did. I set an enriched dough to rise to make simple zaatar mini flatbreads, which we ate with cheese and white bean hummus. On some of the flatbreads I added red onion following my friend Pinuccia’s advice — she knows Middle Eastern recipes a lot better than I do. 😄
They’re delicious!
For the leavened dough I didn’t follow any special recipe; I made one of my improvised doughs by feel, the kind I make when I have different bags of flour to use up, or an open beer to finish, or whey or kefir left after making ricotta or a spreadable cheese. This time a bag of rolled oats also crossed my path, so I added a handful of those too.
If you don’t have every single ingredient I used, below I list other doughs you can safely use to make these zaatar mini flatbreads: 👇😉
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Low cost
- Rest time: 8 Hours
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Cooking time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: total mini flatbreads: about 15
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour (type 0)
- 1 1/3 cups fine durum semolina
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 2/3 cup liquid sourdough starter (licoli) (active)
- 1/2 cup water
- 3 tablespoons beer
- 3 tablespoons whey
- 3 tablespoons zaatar
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- red onion (to taste)
Tools
- Ciotola lievitazione
- Tagliere
- Matterello
- Forno Sfornatutto
- Coppapasta
Steps
First of all, prepare the dough:
Put the flour, semolina and rolled oats into a large bowl. Then add the liquid ingredients: the licoli, the water, the whey and the beer.
👉 As I mentioned in the introduction, I used the beer and the whey because I had leftovers to use up; you can replace them with more water or with milk if you prefer.
Mix initially with a spoon, then briefly knead by hand until you get a dough that is not too smooth (the roughness is due to the rolled oats).
👉 If the dough is too sticky while kneading, add a little flour as needed.
Place the dough ball to rise inside the microwave (or any protected place).
Let it rise until doubled. My dough rose in 6 hours. Then I put it in the fridge (covered with plastic wrap) until the next day, for 14 hours.
👉 Resting in the fridge is useful but optional. It helps the dough mature and is what you should do when you need to postpone baking to the next day, when proper rising doesn’t happen in the expected time (one of the risks of relying on natural leaven and room temperature 😄).
Meanwhile, prepare the za’atar (following this recipe of mine).
🧂 👉 Zaatar is also available pre-mixed and ready to use. Remember to always check the ingredient label, as the packaged versions almost always contain salt. For those interested, I found one without salt (with cumin and coriander) —> this one.
Put the zaatar into a small bowl and add the extra virgin olive oil.
Stir with a teaspoon to make a fairly thick sauce.
Prepare the mini flatbreads:
Take a small portion of the risen dough and roll it out.
👉 If it was in the fridge, you can use it straight from the fridge while cold — it rolls out more easily without sticking to the board. In any case, lightly flour the work surface.
To get thicker mini flatbreads you can press them out with your fingertips; I preferred to roll them thin with the rolling pin.
Then I cut them with a round cutter (10 cm) so they’re all the same size. Of course you can make them in whatever shape and size you prefer.
Spread on each dough disk a teaspoon (or just half a teaspoon) of the zaatar sauce.
For the onion version:
Slice a red onion, arrange the slices on the dough disk and then cover with the zaatar, or vice versa — put the zaatar first and then the onion; there’s no difference in the final result.
Preheat the oven to 392°F and bake the zaatar mini flatbreads (plain or with onion and zaatar) for 15 minutes.
They’re great both hot and cold. Perfect to eat on their own instead of bread, but also excellent filled with a fresh cheese — my homemade spreadable cheese is ideal.
😉
Salt-free tips
Zaatar is one of the latest discoveries I’ve made in my search for new seasonings to use instead of salt. Of course it’s not new — it’s an ancient spice blend widespread in many countries — but for me, growing up in a traditional farming Romagna, exotic and spicy flavors have been a recent conquest. Still, welcome are these new discoveries!
If you’re interested in reducing or eliminating salt, always remember to:
▪ Reduce salt gradually; the palate needs to adapt slowly and shouldn’t notice the progressive reduction.
▪ Use spices: chili, pepper, curry, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, cumin…
▪ Use aromatic herbs: basil, parsley, oregano, thyme, sage, marjoram, rosemary, mint…
▪ Use seeds: sesame, pine nuts, almonds, walnuts…
▪ Use pungent vegetables or fruit: garlic, onion, lemon, orange…
▪ Use my salt-free vegetable granulate and gomasio.
▪ Prefer fresh foods.
▪ Avoid boiling in water; prefer cooking methods that don’t disperse flavors (griddle, foil, steam, microwave).
▪ Don’t put the salt shaker on the table!
▪ Allow yourself an occasional indulgence. It’s good for morale and helps you persevere.
If you don’t want, or can’t, give up salt:
▪ You can still try my recipes and season them according to your usual habits.
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