MANAKEESH "MIDDLE EASTERN PIZZA"

In the Middle East they serve and eat this for breakfast but for me it's anytime of the day. I make this at home using fresh baked pita w/c i buy from a middle eastern bakeshop. As you guys know i've been baking bread lately and thought of making pizza dough to make manakeesh. I think i prefer the thin crust pizza dough, i love the crisp as oppose to the chewyness of the pita, but really either way, FRESH pita bread or homemade pizza dough will work.

I made my pizza dough and divided them into 18 small balls. Then made free formed mini pizza.Make sure to crank up your oven temp to 500 DEGREES and have your pizza stone heated up.

ALL MY MEASUREMENTS ARE ESTIMATES. IT'LL ALL DEPEND ON HOW MANY CRUSTS YOU WILL MAKE.

Mix together 2 T Olive oil, 3 T Zatar, 1 T Sumac and 1 t Lemon juice. I know Zatar has sumac but i want to taste more sumac.

IF YOU MADE TOO MUCH MIXTURE USE THEM TO COAT ANYKIND OF FISH THEN BAKE..YUM!

ZATAR / ZAATAR/ ZA-ATAR - An herb mixture composed of savory, thyme, sumac, and sesame seeds. A prepared mixture of this herb mixture can be found at most Middle Eastern groceries






SUMAC/ SUMAK - A Middle Eastern spice that comes from the grated skin of a dark berry. It has a slightly acidic, astringent flavor. I also use this w/ my lentil soup, YUMMY!

The green powder is Zatar and the red is Sumac.

SAUCE TOPPING INGREDIENTS FOR MANAKEESH: Zatar, Sumac, Labna, Feta Cheese, Lemon

LABNA, LABNEH, LABNE - A Middle Eastern Yogurt cheese also called kefir cheese.


Make your own vegetable toppings. The Zatar/Sumac mixture will be your sauce toppings or if you can't really find or make your zatar make the yogurt as your sauce toppings.
Arrange them on your heated pizza stone and bake for 5 to 10 minutes.

I USED SPINACH, RED ONIONS, TOMATOES FOR MY VEGGIE TOPPINGS AND ADDED FETA CHEESE AND DOLLOP OF YOGURT OR MAKE SOME WITHOUT CHEESE BUT FOR THESE CRUSTS I SPREAD SOME LABNA FIRST THEN THE ZATAR MIXTURE

THESE ARE SOME OF THE MANAKEESH VARIATIONS I MADE.

MANAKEESH USING PITA BREAD. THIS WAS MY FIRST TIME TO MAKE THEM AT HOME, SO YOU'LL NOTICE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MY FIRST AND THE LATEST I MADE. i'M TALKING 2005 - 2009.

I DIDN'T MIX THE ZATAR AND THE SUMAC WITH THE OLIVE OIL. I DRIZZLED THEM W/ OLIVE OIL. IT WAS STILL DELICIOUS!!

I PRECOOKED MY VEGGIES BUT THEN AGAIN IT WAS STILL DELICIOUS!!! GO FIGURE