Another Day of Loafing About

As I continued to browse through ‘How To Make Bread’ by Emmanuel Hadjiandreou (which had since become my bible of bread making lol), I stumbled across a recipe for some deliciously looking Armenian flatbreads and decided to give it a try today. 😋 Now, I will be honest in telling you that I had absolutely no idea what this bread was, nor had I heard of it until now. Upon a brief Google search, it seemed to be that this bread is also called Ormiańskie podpłomyk. (Feel free to correct me lol! I would love to learn more about it haha!)

The flatbreads themselves were very thin and crispy, and felt quite like filo pastry. According to the book and what I managed to find online, it appeared that these flatbreads were usually (and I guessed traditionally) topped with only red onions and seeds, but I decided to go a bit more creative about it and give it more colours!😝 (Think Armenia might not be happy with me now lol…) The crispness of the bread paired extremely well with the crunchiness of the toppings. I personally couldn’t stop eating it! 🤤 I think these are perfect as party treats or as light, healthy snacks. 👍 Also, this bread does not need any yeast and is suitable for vegetarians and vegans, so let’s all give it a try!

This recipe is adapted from the Armenian flatbreads recipe found in ‘How To Make Bread’ by Emmanuel Hadjiandreou.

Tango’s Armenian Flatbreads

Quantity: About 24 flatbreads, 4 trays

Ingredients:

For the dough:

160g / 1¼ cups strong white/bread flour

5g / 1 tsp salt

50g / 3 tbsp olive oil

75g / ⅓ cup water

Garlic-infused olive oil, for brushing

For the toppings:

Red onion, sliced thinly

Spring onion, chopped finely

Sesame seeds

Dried basil

Method:

1. Mix the flour and salt together in a mixing bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, mix the olive oil and water together, then add it to the flour mixture. Mix until it comes together.
3. Cover the dough and let it stand for 5 minutes.
4. After the 5 minutes, knead the dough by pulling a portion of it up from the side and press it into the middle. Repeat another 8 times and the dough should start to resist. Cover the dough again and let it stand for another 5 minutes.
5. Repeat step 4 twice.
6. Knead the dough for one last time. It should be smooth and elastic. Then, cover the dough and let rise for 30 minutes.
7. Divide the dough into 4 equal portions. Place one portion of the dough onto a baking tray lined with baking parchment.
8. Using your hand or a rolling pin, flatten the dough and stretch it out from each corner until you get a very thin. rough rectangle. Repeat with the remaining portions of the dough.
9. Let it rest for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
10. Once the dough has rested, brush the garlic-infused olive oil all over the flatbreads.
11. Cut each flatbread into 6 using a sharp knife.
12. Sprinkle the toppings evenly over the flatbreads.
13. Bake the flatbreads for 5-10 minutes, or golden-brown and crispy. When ready, cool on a wire rack.