Feta-Za’atar Flatbread with Charred Eggplant Dip

The Feta-Za’atar Flatbread with Charred Eggplant Dip was one I had been anticipating for a while, though I had no idea what to expect with za’atar.

I happened to make this recipe at the right time of year, since eggplants started showing up in all our grocery stores by late summer. I did, however, order the za’atar online; turns out, it’s made of a lot of seasonings I already have including oregano, thyme, sumac, sesame, as well as marjoram. It took a long time to get to this part of the recipe as I had to make the Soft and Pillowy Flatbread recipe first.

Typically, I don’t explain in my blog posts the whole process of making the foundation recipes since it can take forever, but for this one, it’s literally half of the recipe. All the ingredients for the flatbread were pretty standard, but I was surprised to learn you can use potato in a dough recipe, who knew! I started by peeling the potato, boiling it and mashing it so all the lumps disappeared. I was amazed how much easier it is to make mashed potatoes out of one potato versus four or five like I typically do for a dinner side dish; from now on, I’m making mashed potatoes in smaller portions!

I used some of the liquid from boiling the potato to proof the yeast, then a little more liquid to combine the yeast, flour, olive oil, salt and mashed potato. This turned into a shaggy dough that I kneaded for about 12 minutes. This dough was tackier than other bread doughs I’ve made for recipes like A Little Bit of Everything Bagels and Honey Tahini Challah, but it still took a similar shape. I let the dough rise in bowl with some oil and a damp towel for about 90 minutes. During that time, I oiled up a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet.

When the dough was doubled in size, I used a bench scraper and scale to divide it into eight equal pieces (honestly, you might want to divide it into even more pieces than this if you plan to use the flatbread as an appetizer, the final pieces ended up pretty large), then pinched the sides of each piece together and flipped them so I had cute little teardrops. To make the teardrops more circular, I placed my hand over them and quickly rotated them to round out the shape. After that, I placed each dough piece on the parchment paper and proofed them for about 45 minutes. At this point, the foundational steps for the dough were complete, so I placed the dough in the fridge until I was ready for the directions that are part of the feta-za’atar recipe.

Moving my attention to the eggplant, I used a rectangular skillet that has grill lines on it over my gas stovetop. I carefully rubbed olive oil on the skillet (one time we cooked chicken this way and started a tiny fire, so now I’m a bit paranoid). I wasn’t sure the eggplant would really cook effectively this way, but guess what, it worked fantastically (granted I did have to use a fan and open windows so the smoke detectors wouldn’t go off). I made sure to poke holes throughout the eggplant halves and watch as they got good grill marks. After they cooled down off the skillet, it was surprisingly easy to scoop out the seeds and get the veggie goods drained.

Once the eggplant prep was done, I placed it in the food processor with Greek yogurt, parsley, lemon juice, garlic, salt, cumin, olive oil, and paprika. With a few pulses, I had a well-mixed, smooth dip ready to eat.

Then in a small bowl, I stirred together the za’atar and olive oil. It seems like a lot when making it, but trust me, it will all get used.

I turned my attention back to the flatbread dough. Claire suggests going through the next prep steps by taking each piece of dough out of the fridge one at a time, but I just worked fast. One by one, I rolled out each piece into a circle, about five inches in diameter. Then I sprinkled on some feta cheese, rolled it up, and rolled that small log into a spiral.

Next, I oiled two pieces of parchment paper as I prepared a smaller round skillet for cooking up the dough. I recommend setting yourself up for each of the next few steps before starting this process; next to the skillet, I had the za’atar oil mixture with a brush and some cooling racks ready. From there, one by one, I took a spiral dough piece, placed it between the parchment papers’ oiled sides and rolled it flat. I then carefully brought that flattened dough piece to the skillet; each side took about two minutes to cook and get some nice dark spots, but right after the flip I brushed the cooked side with the za’atar oil. Once it was done, I placed it on the cooling rack and repeated this process for the rest of the dough spirals.

And finally, with the eggplant dip in a serving bowl and the flatbread still slightly warm, it was time to snack!

Overall, the Feta-Za’atar Flatbread with Charred Eggplant Dip is a hit. I loved the flatbread, which could be easily used as a pizza dough as well, however as mentioned before, I would probably make smaller sizes next time so it’s easier to dip in the eggplant dip. I definitely liked the dip, but as a carb queen, the flatbread is where it’s at for me. The dip has a great balance of tanginess with a little kick. This recipe takes a bit of time to complete all the elements, but if you’re trying to show off your skills for an event, this is a great recipe to try.

Claire made this flatbread on her YouTube Channel, check it out!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dP4489bs-s