You are looking at the National Breakfast Dish of Lebanon. The almighty Zaatar manoushe (manouche, manou’che, man’ouché, fatayer, Lebanese pizza). There are different flavours of manoushe but the Zaatar one is the king of them all. A delicious bread spread and topped with a mix of Zaatar herb blend – see more of Zaatar: Spice Jewel of the Middle-East – and oven roasted to perfection. This, my friends, is the Lebanese pizza, also known as manoushe or fatayer. It showcases the beauty of Zaatar, the herb that grows abundantly in the Levantine, and is a blend of zaatar herbs, sesame seeds and sumac to name a few. Today we have the manouche recipe for you. This is all you need to know to create an authentic Lebanese breakfast fit for a king and a picky eater, any picky eater!

Ingredients for 2 round dough:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 1 teaspoon active dry yeast

Ingredients for Zaatar Topping:

• 3 tablespoons Zara Zaatar Mix
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Instructions:

1. Mix the dry ingredients, including flour, salt and 1 teaspoon sugar in a large bowl
2. In a small bowl, mix the yeast, 1 tablespoon of warm water and the other teaspoon of sugar
3. Leave this mix in a warm place for about 5 minutes – when you’ve noticed that the yeast mixture has begun to bubble, it’s ready, you want to add in the flour, along with the vegetable oil and the remaining water
4. Mix all the ingredients well
5. Sprinkle a little flour on the table and knead the dough until it is no longer sticky. Tip: Don’t get demotivated here, it may take a while but it will eventually seize to be sticky
   
   Now that you have completed the dough mixture…
   
   
   
6. Get a bowl. Tip: Lightly oil the bowl. You will be placing the dough here to allow it to rise, the oil will prevent it from sticking to the bowl
7. Cover the bowl. Tip: Use a damp tea cloth and leave it in a warm place to accelerate the process. The dough will be ready when it has doubled in size
8. Use your knuckle to compress the dough 
9. Divide it into 2 equal parts. Tip: At this point, you may want to turn the oven on to the highest temperature possible
   
   Time to roll out and bring in the spice…
   
   
10. Use your hand to flatten out the dough and roll out into approximately .5 cm thick round circle
11. Mix the olive oil with the Zaatar
12. Use a spoon to top off the dough with the Zaatar, put into a pan
    
    Time to bake…
    
    
13. Considering the oven is already on the highest setting, put the pan with the 2 manoushes into the oven. Tip: Once the dough is golden and has slightly bubbled, they are ready. This shouldn’t take too long (approximately 5-7 minutes) but it all depends on how thick the dough is

Serving Suggestion:

A Lebanese breakfast always includes…

• Olives
• Small cucumbers
• Sliced tomatoes
• Mint
• Parsley
• Green onion
• Pickles
• Yogurt spread (Labneh)
• Seven Spices 
• English breakfast tea

Full recipe inspired by Rita Akkar of www.cookwithattitude.com during the Vegan Challenge, also featured on Epicurious Community