Maneesh – Middle Eastern flatbread

Little pleases me more than a generous array of mezze ready to be scooped up with a torn-off piece of flatbread. There is greedy pleasure to be found in sitting at a table groaning under the weight of several colourful dishes. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of the meat and two veg approach too, but sometimes only an abundance of variety will do.

Maneesh is a Middle Eastern flatbread that makes the perfect edible spoon for baba ganoush, hummus, tabbouleh or labneh, as well as a delightful sponge to wipe up leftover sauce or meat juices. It’s a really easy bread to make and its fragrant za’atar crust makes it tasty enough to eat alone. You can take it from me that after a boozy dinner party, any leftovers make for an extremely satisfying breakfast. It has a slightly sweet flavour and the texture of the sesame seeds make a lovely contrast to the soft, sponginess of the bread.

Shop-bought flatbread just can’t compete, so why bother opening your wallet for pale and dusty supermarket pitta, when you can knock up maneesh in no time. Granted, there is proving time (not true of all flatbreads) but all that really means is that you have an hour off to get on with other things, like putting your feet up.