Manakeesh
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Manakeesh

By Beth Marriott Howell

Fill flatbreads with a za'atar dressing and salty feta, then griddle until toasted for a delicious brunch or light lunch packed with Middle Eastern flavours

  • Prep:30 mins
    Cook:10 mins
  • Serves 4
  • Easy

Nutrition per serving

  • kcal 761
  • fat 54g
  • saturates 14g
  • carbs 47g
  • sugars 9g
  • fibre 5g
  • protein 20g
  • salt 2.6g

Ingredients

  • lavash or wholemeal khobez flatbreads (see tips)
  • 200g pack feta
  • good-quality tomatoes, chopped into rough cubes
  • ½ cucumber, chopped into rough cubes
  • ½ small pack mint, leaves picked and torn
  • 15 pitted black olives
  • balsamic vinegar, for drizzling
  • extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 150ml pot natural or Turkish yogurt (available from ocado.com)
  • ½ small pack oregano
  • bunch thyme, leaves picked
  • 150ml olive oil
  • garlic cloves, crushed
  • juice ½ lemon
  • ¼ tsp sumac
  • sesame seeds, toasted

Tip

Lavash bread

At Kiosk (Beth's restaurant), we get lavash bread from a local Turkish bakery – however, you could use flatbreads, tortillas or naan breads instead. If you want to make your own, I recommend using a simple flatbread recipe. I make mine quite wet and roll it out on cornmeal to make it thinner, then fry in a dry frying pan.

Za’atar

Traditionally, the dressing for this dish uses za’atar, a Middle Eastern herb mix of dried thyme, oregano, sesame seeds and sumac. However, when one of our waitresses had a glut of oregano in her garden, we had a go at making our own using fresh herbs. The flavour is smoother and less intense. You’ll make more za’atar than you need for this recipe, so you can use leftovers served on top of roasted feta with the Turkish salad.

Method

  1. First, make the salad. Add the tomato, cucumber, mint and olives to a large bowl, drizzle over a little balsamic vinegar and some extra virgin olive oil, then mix to combine. Season to taste.

  2. Stir the crushed garlic into the yogurt and mix thoroughly, then season and set aside.

  3. To make the dressing, put the oregano, thyme, olive oil and garlic in a jug and blend with a stick blender. Add the lemon juice, sumac, sesame seeds and some seasoning, and stir well.

  4. Spread one side of each flatbread with 2 heaped tbsp of the za’atar dressing, then top each with a quarter of the feta.

  5. Fold the flatbreads in half or roll up and lightly fry each on both sides in a dry griddle pan over a medium heat until lightly toasted and golden. Keep warm on a low heat in the oven while you fry the others.

  6. Serve with a pile of the Turkish salad, garnished with a dollop of garlic yogurt.

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