Manaeesh or Manaqish or simply flatbread Pies are very popular middle-eastern everyday food, that is just similar to Italian Pizza!. I have been trying this recipe at home and I love it! very soft, delicious and lighter than pizza; or the original recipes of the traditional manaqish.
So if you are a pizza lover then I am sure you will love manaqish too!. What i like about this recipe is that I was able to make it as healthier as possible, I have reduced the amount of vegetable oil, I used low fat cheese, low fat greek yogurt and whole-wheat flour.
Note: You can still use plain flour, full fat dairy products, and 1/2 a cup of vegetable oil instead of 1/3 cup.
Ingredients
For the Manaqish dough:
- 500g whole-wheat bread flour
- 1/3 cup of vegetable oil
- 1/3 cup of low fat yogurt
- 1 Tbls yeast
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 Tbls caster sugar
- About 220 ml of warm water (or less/just to combine the ingredients into a dough)
For the Manaqish toppings:
- Tomato topping : 2 small tomatoes, 1 Tbls of tomato paste, 1 red onion, ½ a yellow or red pepper, 1 tsp dried mint, chili powder, paprika, 1 Tbls sumac, salt, and 1 Tbls of olive oil.
- Zaatar Topping: equal amounts of zaatar and olive oil (about 1/3 cup each)
- Cheese Topping: ½ cup of mixed Cheddar and mozzarella.
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 170°C, before starting to make the dough.
1. Mix the flour, yeast, baking powder, salt and sugar together in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the center and add the yogurt and oil and mix, then add about half the water and mix, keep adding water slowly to bring the ingredients together as a dough. Knead the dough for 5 minutes on a floured or nonstick surface. Cut the dough into two equal parts, then split each into half, shape them into balls. Cover and leave to rest for 5 minutes, while preparing the toppings.
Toppings:
- Mix tomatoes, onion, dried mint, sumac, salt, pepper, paprika, and chili powder, with 1 Tbls of olive oil.
- Mix equal amounts of zaatar and olive oil (about 1/3 cup each)
- Prepare your favorite cheese by grating it or cutting it into small equal pieces. I used cheddar, mozzarella and spread cheese with olives in this recipe. You can also use middle-east popular manaqish cheese haloumi or Kashkaval white cheese.
2. Let’s shape the dough into manaqish! :
Roll out one dough ball at a time on a baking paper, dock the dough using a fork to prevent the pie crust from forming bubbles. Add one of the toppings, spreading it evenly, then lift the dough with the baking paper (to help lift the manaqish easily) and slide it onto a baking tray. Bake for until the edges and base of the manaqish turn golden brown, repeat with the other 3 dough balls and toppings.
3. Serve hot with middle eastern spiced black tea or chai and enjoy!
Step by step!