Recipe challenge week 4 – Flatbread

On our last night at this years Camp Bestival I had an absolutely amazing lamb kebab.. The flatbread was cooked in front of me and the most succulent lamb was added along with a superfood salad and a special sauce. It was one of my festival highlights..what can I say? I am a foodie after all. When I got home I tried to recreate said kebab and it was very good but not quite the same, I used Pitta breads instead of flatbread and it made a huge difference. So in this weeks challenge I decided to master making my own flatbreads and it was definitely worth it.

I found a simple recipe in my River Cottage Everyday book and it was fairly easy and so much tastier than any supermarket stuff:

Flat bread ingredients:

250g plain flour
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 tablespoon rapeseed or olive oil
150ml warm water

Sift the flour into a large bowl and add the salt. Add the oil and water and form into a dough with your hands.Turn out onto a floured work surface and knead for about 5 minutes, until the dough feels smooth and elastic. Cover the ball with an upturned mixing bowl and let it rest for 15 minutes.
When you are ready to cook and eat the flatbreads, roll the dough into a sausage shape and divide into 8 balls. Flour the work surface and roll out the dough to around 2-3mm thick, using plenty of flour. I find that the dough needs to rest once rolled out for at least 3-5 minutes.
Place a heavy-based non-stick frying pan – or a cast iron griddle – over a high heat and when it’s good and hot, turn the heat down a bit. Have a plate lined with a clean tea towel so you can put your cooked flatbreads on it to keep them warm and soft.
Shake off any excess flour and carefully lay a flatbread in the hot pan. Let it sit for a minute or two, until the dough looks ‘set’ on top and has started to lift away from the pan. Flip over and cook for another 30-45 seconds. Wrap the cooked flatbreads in the tea towel to keep warm while the rest are cooking.Serve the flatbreads while they are still soft and warm. Once cold, they won’t be quite the same. But they can be recycled by tearing them into pieces, brushing with a little oil, then crisping them up in a hot oven to make dipping chips, or flat croutons for soups or salads.

Of all the recipes I have posted this is definitely one you should all try! Let me know if you do.