Arabic Bread
My parents paid me a visit this weekend. I knew they would come laden with food, and I was right: from schnitzels, meatballs, and smoked sausages to bean soup with sour cream. 🤤 But I figured my mother wouldn't bake any bread, so I made Arabic breads and focaccia. I also prepared some yogurt cheese and eggplant salad with onions.
Ingredients
Dough
250 ml warm water
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 level tablespoon sugar
1 heaping teaspoon salt
450 g all-purpose flour
1 packet dry yeast (7 g)
Toppings
3 tablespoons za'atar + 3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons olive oil (for greasing the pan)
Yield: 3 breads with 18 cm diameter
How to prepare arabic bread
- Put the dough ingredients in the bread machine and set it to the kneading and rising program. Let the dough rest in the machine for another hour after the program ends.
If you don't have a bread machine, dissolve the yeast and sugar in water. Add to the rest of the ingredients and knead by hand until the dough is elastic and doesn't stick to your hands. Let it rise for 2 hours in a covered bowl placed in a warm spot. - Divide the dough into 3 portions.
- Line the bottom of an 18 cm diameter pan with parchment paper.
* To make a single bread, use a 30 cm diameter pan. - Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and grease the bottom of the pan. Take a piece of dough and coat it with the oil in the pan on all sides, then stretch it with your hands. Cover the dough and let it rise for about 30 minutes.
- Mix the 3 tablespoons of za'atar with 3 tablespoons of olive oil until it becomes a paste, then spread 1/3 of the paste over the risen dough. Press with your fingers all over the dough surface to make small indentations.
- Bake at 200°C for 25-30 minutes.
* Repeat with the remaining dough portions - Let it cool, then you can slice it.
Pass the dough through the oil in the tray
Stretch the dough with your hands
Spread the za'atar
Slice
