Flatbread with zaatar ( Man’ooshe) on the grill

September 6, 2009  •  Category:

 

For years, the first thing I would do upon returning to Beirut was to rush to our neighborhood furn (oven-bakery) and order a man’oosheh with za’atar.. I was deprived of my favorite food all year, that’s why!  I wanted to eat it every day, no exception!! The truth is I was also picky about how my man’ooshe was  supposed to taste. Local man’ooshe from middle-eastern restaurants in the States  did not fully satisfy me.


I wanted a  man’ooshe like the ones I had tasted in  Deir El-Kamar, in the Shoof.  Their  dough  is almost golden, with specks of wheat. I had brought back some zaatar, a gift from  Umm Elias, a mother of six from the village of Fawara in the Shoof. I knew she had picked and dried  the zaatar herself and she had made the mix withsumak, zaatar, sesame seeds and some salt. Her zaatar was unbelievably good. It had to be honored.

I decided to bake the man’ooshe on the grill, using a  pita dough recipe from Anissa Helou’s book Savory Baking from the mediterranean. I had read about grilling pizzas and figured the same technique could be used with man’ooshe. I also wanted to try a makeshift sajto see if I could make a man’oosheh al-saj, the way it is done in the Shoof and pretty much all over Lebanon.

This recipe is adapted from Mediterranean Street Food by Anissa Helou

To make the dough:

INGREDIENTS: This quantity will make 5 large or 10 medium man’ooshes

  • 1 heaping teaspoon active dry yeast
  • 1 teaspoon sugar or honey (optional)
  • 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour or bread flour  and  1 1/2 cups organic whole-wheat flour (total:3 1/2 cups)
  • 2 teaspoons sea salt
  • 3 to 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil  ( 3 for the dough and 2 for greasing the bowl)
  • 1 1/2 cups warm water

METHOD:

  1. Dissolve the yeast and sugar (if using)  in 1/4 cup warm water. Place in a warm place to proof.
  2. Place both flours in a large bowl and mix well with a whisk. OR, place in a standing mixer and mix with the dough hook. Or place in a food processor and pulse to mix.
  3. Add the oil in the middle of the mound of flour and mix with either your fingertips or a dough hook or through the feed tube. Add the proofed yeast and gradually add about 1 cup of warm water. Knead for a few minutes until a sticky ball of dough forms.
  4. Remove the dough from the bowl or mixer and place on a lightly floured surface.
  5. Sprinkle the dough with a couple tablespoons of flour and knead, adding more flour, until the dough is smooth and does not stick. This will take 2 to 5 minutes.
  6. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise for 1 hour in a warm place free of drafts.

To Make the man’ooshe:

  1. Place the dough into the floured counter. Roll it into a fat sausage and cut into 5 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball.
  2. Form the man’oosheh, one at a time, by using a rolling pin and your fingers all around. Leave the remaining balls aside, covered in a moist towel.
  3. When  formed, transfer to a paddle or a wooden board sprinkled with cornmeal (or flour) or a metal cookie sheet.
  4. Spread the za’atar paste on the man’ooshes, using the back of a spoon and spreading about 1/3 cup of  it per man’ooshe.
  5. Heat up the grill to at least 550F. Let the formed man’ooshe rest on the paddle for 15 minutes or so.
  6. Place on the grill or saj.
  7. Bake 5 minutes or so. Remove promptly from the grill and place on the wooden paddle to cool for a few minutes.
  8. Serve with some tomatoes, quartered, fresh mint, olives, labneh and  scallions.

TIP:

An easy way to provide a warm place for your dough to rise is to boil a pint of water in a large soup pot. Turn off the heat and reverse the lid. Place the bowl with the dough in it on top of that lid and cover it with a towel. The residual heat from the boiling water will help rise the dough for a while, until it has doubled in size.

NOTE:

You can prepare the dough ahead of time and freeze it. Make the dough until it is smooth and not sticky and freeze in ziplock bags. When ready to use, remove and dust with flour. Let it rise at room temperature for a couple of hours. Proceed.


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To Make the Za’atar mix:

INGREDIENTS:

  • Zaatar mix, either homemade or store-bought. If it is bought, taste it first, adjusting the ratio of sumak, salt and sesame seeds to suit your own taste.
  • Extra-virgin olive oil. If using 1/2 cup of mix, use the  same quantity of olive oil.

METHOD:

  1. Simply place the za’atar in a small bowl. Add the olive oil and mix.

TO COOK THE MAN’OOSHE ON THE BBQ GRILL

  1. Heat the BBQ grill until the temperature gets to 550-600F, heating half the burners and leaving the others turned off on one side. Place either a baking stone or a piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil on the unlit side of the grill to place the man’ooshe on it.
  2. Slide the man’oosheh on the side of the grill that it not lit up. Close the grill. Check it after 3 to 5 minutes.
  3. Remove the man’oosheh when it is golden and crisp around the edges and bubbles have appeared throughout.
  4. Sahteyn!

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TO MAKE IT IN A SKILLET ON A STOVE-TOP

  1. Preheat either a nonstick skillet or a seasoned cast iron skillet on medium-high heat.
  2. Place the man’ooshe on the skillet, with the topping of zaatar on top. Cook until the bottom is golden with brownish spots.
  3. Remove and serve hot or warm or freeze and reheat in a slow oven.

TO MAKE IT ON THE SAJ

  1. Take the wok and invert it. Oil the surface well.
  2. Place the rolled out dough on the wok and place it on the grill.
  3. Check it after one minute. If it looks like it is too hot, reduce the heat or slide it onto the area where the burners are turned off.
  4. One minute after placing it on the grill, add the za’atar paste on the dough, spreading it all over with a spatula.
  5. Close the lid and check the man’ooshe after 3 to 5 minutes.

It is also delicious to add some cheese on top. If you are planning to add toppings, I recommend doing so after the man’ooshe has been placed on the grill or on the wok , not before! Leftover man’oosheh can be wrapped in foil and refrigerated or frozen. Defrost in a slow oven for a few minutes.

man'ooshe jubneh

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man'ooshe al-saj

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NOTE:

Children in Lebanon were always urged to eat a man’ooshe with zaatar before an exam. The belief is that zaatar is good for the memory. I don’t know if there is a scientific basis for this.

Comments

16 Comments  •  Comments Feed

  1. Reply

    Sophie says:

    I love using Zataar!! I just recently discovered it!! These flatbreads look delectable!!
    I just gave you an award !! It is the one lovely blog award!! You so deserve this!
    Come over & pick it up!!

    On September 7, 2009 at 1:57 am

  2. Reply

    Ramzi M says:

    I love your blog .. thank you so much!

    On September 8, 2009 at 8:13 am

  3. Reply

    Christine Boulos says:

    I am Lebanese and wanting to purchase the actual SAJ grill. I was in Lebanon this summer and so enjoyed the manoush each day. Can you advise if I can possible purchase a Saj stateside? If I have to return to Beirut, so be it.. I’d love to return. I appreciate your help. Kind Regards, Christine

    On October 21, 2009 at 12:18 pm

    • Reply

      Joumana says:

      Christine
      Here is what I did. I bought a heavy-duty wok from my local Asian market. I flipped it over and used it like a saj. It works very well! I don’t know if you can purchase the actual saj grill. I am sure you could! But you have to determine if you want to get all the apparatus that goes with it, the gas grill, etc. In the post, at the end, I have a photo of a saj that is heated with some branches. This was done by neighbors in the mountains (Shoof) who use this very rustic way to make mana’eesh. I will enquire for you next time I am in Beirut, if you’d like. I will be there in December.

      On October 21, 2009 at 2:09 pm

  4. Reply

    Tom Elliott says:

    Love this site – your affection for the food is captivating

    On April 22, 2010 at 3:41 pm

  5. Reply

    joudie kalla says:

    Hi JOumana, i am making this tonight for my hubby…. What cheese would you recommend? I love zaatar but also am a massive fan of cheese……. Thanks for post. Looks AMAZING!

    On August 1, 2010 at 5:27 am

  6. Reply

    Jimmy Cracks Caprico says:

    THANK YOU!!!! I was in Beiruit and through Lebanon in 1998 and we stayed downtown near the green line and there was a great flatbread bakery right downstairs…I gained 5 pounds!! I had Man’ooshe with and without the cheese, I liked it better without the cheese, just the Zataar…OMG so delish!!

    I am intimidated by yeast breads…always a lot of work for a little bread but I cannot find any Persian cafe in my region to serve this delicacy…! With this recipe I wil try my hands and use a flat pizza stone in the oven…or maybe a wok on the grill…with the pizza sont underneath like a brick oven. I think I will try a couple times to perfect the process so I can have with Easter lamb….Wooo hooo!!

    On February 6, 2011 at 4:40 pm

  7. Reply

    Robert A says:

    Hi – this looks fantastic, thank you so much. I have searched and search for a way to buy a saj in the U.S. to no avail. So I’ll buy a wok and invert it.

    One thing that puzzles me tho; you wrote one inverts the wok and later “Close the lid and check the man’ooshe after 3 to 5 minutes.”

    Are you saying that your wok has a lid and that lid fits over the wok when it’s inverted? I’m trying to visualize this.

    On June 4, 2011 at 2:14 pm

  8. Reply

    Georges says:

    Hey Joumana. At what temperature and for how long can a manoushe be cooked in the oven?

    On June 7, 2011 at 10:47 am

    • Reply

      Joumana says:

      @Georges: I would bake it at the highest possible temperature, say 550F; check on it after 5 to 7 minutes. Remember, each oven is different; with mine, I would double-pan it (put two pans one on top of the other).

      On June 7, 2011 at 2:21 pm

  9. Reply

    Oui, Chef says:

    HA…I knew I would find a great recipe for man’ooshe here. Can’t wait to try this on my grill!

    On April 15, 2012 at 6:50 pm

  10. Reply

    Alain says:

    We were encouraged to eat zaatar because it was cheap, always available, and lasts a long time. Of course they had to make a legend around it because it is not the most attractive food for a kid. It’s only as you grow up that you realise it does nothing for your memory but it is delicious.

    On April 28, 2019 at 10:25 am

  11. Reply

    Daphne says:

    I love it, going to be my all time favourite

    On April 24, 2021 at 9:01 am

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