rosemary flatbread recipe

You can make this recipe for rosemary flat bread standing on your head. The dough takes under 5 minutes to combine and about an hour to rise. This makes it ideal for whipping up quickly if you’ve got people coming to supper.

This rosemary version is lovely for dipping into hummus, Saganaki or White gazpacho. Alternatively, you can smother the breads in dill or fennel seeds as you put them in the oven to bake.

For 6 medium-sized flat breads:

• 200g strong white flour
• ½ teaspoon dried yeast
• 150ml tepid water
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• Salt
• Rosemary, coarsely chopped

Put the flour into a large bowl and add the yeast. Add the warm water, olive oil and a pinch of salt, and start mixing it all together to a rather sloppy dough: if your mix is too dry, add a little more water; if the mix is too wet, add a little more flour.

Once you have a ball of dough, take it out of the bowl and knead on a floured surface for 5 minutes until it is elastic but slightly tacky. Leave the dough to rest under a damp tea towel for an hour. It will rise until it has about doubled in size.

Preheat a medium (180°C/gas mark 4) oven. Break off a ball of dough about the size of tangerine and roll it out on a floured surface to a thickness of about 2mm. This will make a decent sized (about pitta size) bread. Repeat, until you have used all the dough. Brush each flat bread with olive oil. Sprinkle with a little salt and scatter with rosemary. Bake on baking trays for about 10 minutes, until the surface starts to bubble and turn a golden brown. Don’t cook them too long or they’ll turn into cardboard. Serve immediately.

This recipe is featured on p46 of Sarah Raven's Garden Cookbook.