Recipe and Image by Kathy Paterson
My obsession for flatbreads seems to have no bounds, and when I came across Moldovan flatbreads some time ago from the talented Ukrainian Chef, food writer and cookbook author Olia Hercules, I couldn’t wait to make them.
Olia uses kefir or buttermilk to make her soft and pillowy dough. Here I’ve made my own buttermilk, but you can replace with kefir or store purchased buttermilk.
Serve as part of your meal.
Makes 4
1 cup full cream milk
1½ tbsp white wine vinegar or white vinegar for higher acidity
1 heaped tsp sugar
300g/2 cups plain flour, plus extra for kneading
1 tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
vegetable oil, for brushing
Filling
1½ cups grated pumpkin flesh
2 tbsp finely grated parmesan
1 egg
2 tbsp flat leaf parsley leaves, roughly chopped (or a mixture of parsley with mint and oregano or sweet marjoram)
1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted
Pour the milk into a measuring jug and add the vinegar. Stir then set aside for 10 minutes at room temperature. Add the sugar. Pour into the bowl of your electric mixer with bread hook attachment then sift in the flour, salt and baking soda. Mix until a dough forms, then keep kneading the dough until no longer too sticky to handle, adding extra flour as needed, but don’t allow dough to become dry.
OR, if no electric mixer – make dough in a bowl then very well flour your bench and tip dough out. Knead by hand adding in the extra flour as needed.
Mix together all the filling ingredients and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Divide the dough into four pieces and on a well-floured bench, roll out each piece into a round, about 25cm in diameter. Thin is good but not so thin the dough tears easily. Brush rounds with a little oil.
Spread the filling evenly over the surface of each round, leaving about a 2.5 cm edge (all the way around).
Fold to make a parcel, keeping the dough so it just joins together without too much overlap. Fold the corners into the centre, forming a moneybag shape and pinch very well to avoid filling leaking out. Flatten the moneybag with a floured hand and use the rolling pin to flatten even more.
Heat a hot plate until hot. In batches, cook your flatbread. Brush one side of the flatbread with oil and put on the hot plate then brush the top with oil as it is cooking. Cook until well browned on both sides, pushing down on each flatbread as they cook to keep flattish and help cook the pumpkin inside.
Olia Hercules pan-fries her flatbreads in 100 ml sunflower oil but also suggests grilling (I have used a hot plate). The result will be a bit different, but still great.
pkin Flatbread