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Quick to make, tear-and-share flatbreads are perfect for cooking over an open fire. I have a cast-iron pan that I keep especially for this purpose. It’s a robust old thing, which I sit directly in the embers. When it’s smoking hot I lay the flatbreads down in the pan and they cook very quickly. You could use a large flat stone instead – just make sure it’s really hot.
Yield
8
Ingredients
250g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
Flaky sea salt, to finish
Method
Sift the flour into a large bowl and add the salt. Measure the water in a jug, stir in the oil and pour this into the flour in a thin stream, stirring well with a wooden spoon or your hands to form a slightly sticky dough.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes, until it feels smooth and plump, sprinkling on a little more flour only if the dough feels very sticky. Let the dough rest while you light the fire.
Prepare your fire. It wants to be hot for this recipe: you need a good bed of glowing embers, and a little flame is fine.
When you’re ready to cook and eat the flatbreads, roll the dough into a sausage shape and divide it into 8 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball. Flour your work surface or board and a rolling pin, then roll out each ball into a circle, 2–3mm thick, using plenty of flour as the dough is liable to stick.
Shake off any excess flour from one of the flatbreads and lay it in the hot pan. Let it sit for a minute or two, until the dough looks ‘set’ on top and is starting to lift away from the pan.
Carefully look at the underside and, if you can see dark brown patches forming, flip the flatbread over and cook the other side for 30–45 seconds. If the flatbread appears to be colouring too quickly, move the pan to a cooler part of the fire.
Wrap the cooked flatbread in a cloth while you cook the others. To serve the flatbreads, trickle with extra virgin oil, then sprinkle over a pinch of flaky salt.
A recipe from River Cottage Handbook No.17: Outdoor Cooking by Gill Meller (Bloomsbury Publishing).
This originally appeared on House & Garden UK.
