Recipe shared by Frank De Roose
for Moore Wilson's 2021 Calendar

The Lido Cafe
Victoria Street, Te Aro Lido.cafe

 

 

 

Flatbread
1 cup lukewarm water
½ Tbsp dry active yeast
2 cups plain flour
½ Tbsp salt

Garlic Oil
1 small bunch parsley
8 garlic cloves
½ Tbsp capers
½ tsp salt
1 Tbsp dried mint
1 cup canola oil
1 cup olive oil

Za'tar
¼ cup sumac
½ cup toasted sesame seeds (put on tray in oven until toasted)
2 Tbsp dried oregano
2 Tbsp dried marjoram
2 Tbsp dried thyme
2 Tbsp salt flakes

Greens - Cavalo Nero
1 bunch cavolo nero
¼ cup olive oil
½ sprig rosemary
1 garlic clove, bruised
½ tsp Sechuan chilli bean paste

Greens - Silverbeet, Celery & Parsley
1 bunch silverbeet
2 Tbsp onion, finely diced
½ cup celery leaves, finely sliced
½ cup flatleaf parsley leaves, finely sliced
Zest from 1 lemon

Greens - Spinach
1 bunch spinach
2 spring onions, finely sliced
½ garlic clove, minced
1 cm ginger, peeled and grated
½ tsp sesame oil

Cheeses - Ricotta, Feta & Halloumi
½ cup ricotta, drained (we use Zany Zeus)
½ cup crumbled feta
160g halloumi (we use Zany Zeus)

Flat Bread

In a bowl, add yeast to water, followed by flour and salt. Mix together with a large spoon or by hand until amalgamated, then knead lightly in the bowl with floured hands. Cover bowl with a towel or reusable wrap and leave to rise in a warm place for about an hour.

Remove dough to a floured work bench, stretch it out and divide in four equal portions. Roll out into long ovals of 0.5cm thickness and grill on a well-heated cast-iron hotplate (or large cast-iron pan) until browning at the bottom, turn over, brush with garlic oil and sprinkle with za’atar and leave another 30 seconds to 1 minute. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Garlic Oil

Blend ingredients in a food processor.
Note: This makes more than you will need, but keeps well in the fridge and is great for brushing on anything you want to grill, from red meat to vegetables.

Za'atar

Stir all ingredients together.
Note: This makes more than you will need but keeps very well stored at room temperature in an air-tight container. Sprinkle on soups, salads, avocado on toast etc.

Greens - Cavalo Nero

Strip leaves from the stalks and cook in boiling water 5 minutes. Drain, refresh and gently squeeze out the excess water, then chop in 0.5cm pieces.

In the meantime, warm olive oil in a pot over low heat with the rosemary, garlic and chilli bean paste. Leave to infuse for 5 minutes, stirring once or twice, making sure oil doesn’t get too hot, then discard rosemary and garlic. Add greens, stir well, season with salt, then cook under cover 5 to 10 minutes (adding a touch of water if too dry).

Greens - Silverbeet, Celery & Parsley

Strip leaves from the stalks and cook in boiling water just long enough to wilt. Drain, refresh and gently squeeze out the excess water, then chop in 0.5 cm pieces. In the meantime, fry the onion in olive oil over low heat until soft, add the celery leaves and parsley leaves and gently cook another minute, add the silverbeet, season with salt, cook another minute, then add the lemon zest

Greens - Spinach

Trim spinach, then blanch in boiling water, drain, refresh, gently squeeze out the excess water, and roughly chop.

In the meantime, fry the spring onion, garlic and ginger over low heat for 1-2 minutes, add the greens, season with salt, add the sesame oil, stir to mix in the flavours well, and remove from the heat.

Cheeses - Ricotta, Feta & Halloumi

Ricotta and feta - mix together
Halloumi - cut in 10g rectangular pieces

Final Assembly

Preheat oven to 200 °C.

Divide greens in three sections over the flatbreads. Divide 4 tsp sized dots of ricotta and feta mix over each bread and transfer to the oven on a thin metal sheet-pan. Bake 5-8 minutes or until fully heated through.

In the meantime, sear 4 pieces halloumi for each of the flatbreads on both sides on a hotplate or in a pan. Evenly distribute over the flatbread when it comes out of the oven. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with za’atar.

Makes four flatbread