Zucchini flatbreads with thyme and onion are easy to make. I love these for casual summer entertaining. Serve with fresh and grilled veggies and freshly made spreads.
Part two of the Spices & Seasons blog cookoff, today I am sharing a zucchini flatbread recipe. I love making flatbread. It's simple and fairly fool-proof. Yeast bread has an element of hope - or at least requires crossing of fingers. Without the magic and unpredictability of yeast, flatbread is fairly easy to master. If you can make pancakes your good to go.
Easy Summer Entertaining
Traditional or not, flatbread is my go-to for summer BBQ.
I just love serving a casual meal of crispy flatbreads with an assortment of spreads, dips and fresh grilled veggies. It's a bit messy. Loose and casual. A big table full of food. Let everyone help themselves to what they feel like, as they feel like it. I'm all about easy summer entertaining.
This recipe comes from Rinku Bhattacharya's "Spices & Seasons" cookbook for Zucchini, Lemon Thyme and Onion flatbreads. As soon as I saw the recipe I knew it was something I just had to try.
This recipe uses pureed zucchini in the dough. Come mid-August, and we will all have too many zucchini's to deal with. I love adding fresh zucchini here. Finding something new to do with zucchini is always on my to-do list.
Before you start, some notes
You will need to plan ahead here a bit.
The dough must sit for a couple of hours before rolling and frying. It's really not a terribly difficult bread to make, just be prepared and time it properly.
These flatbreads can be made ahead and stored in the freezer if needed. Just warm them on the grill or BBQ (or in the oven) before serving.
When rolling out flatbreads, don't stress about getting each flatbread perfectly round and the same size. We tend to break ours into bits and pile on toppings. We rarely use them as wraps. So if they are lopsided, have a few holes or some are smaller than others it doesn't matter. They are delicious no matter what they look like.
The bread itself is a lovely light green colour, flecked with green thyme leaves. The bits of onion add great texture.
Don't forget to visit the other blogs participating in this cookoff. I've been given permission to share this recipe from the author and publisher.
If you like this recipe, you might also like this vegan flatbread recipe. While we rarely use these zucchini flatbreads for wraps, this recipe works really well as a wrap and is more neutral in flavour.
Zucchini, Lemon Thyme and Onion Flatbreads
Ingredients
- 1 large green zucchini
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon thyme leaves
- 2-¾ cups whole wheat flour
- 2 tablespoons olive oil - plus more for frying
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 red onion very finely chopped
Instructions
- Cut the top off the zucchini and cut into wedges. Place in a food processor with the lemon thyme and puree until nice and smooth.
- Place 2 cups of the wheat flour n a mixing bowl and add 2 tablespoons olive oil and the salt and mix well.
- Add in the chopped onion and mix well (the dough will be lumpy and dry at this point).
- Gradually work in the pureed zucchini until you have a dough that is smooth and well mixed. You might need to add a little water to get it to bind but you want a dough that is a little dry since as the dough rests it becomes moister as the zucchini releases some water. Let the dough rest for about 2 hours.
- Work in the additional whole wheat flour to make the dough pliable and relatively smooth to touch. It should be springy but not sticky at this point.
- Break-off 15 small lime-sized balls of the dough and roll into circles about 6 inches in diameter on a floured surface.
- As you begin rolling out the first circle, place a skillet or tawa on the fire. It is important to have a well-heated skillet for the purpose of making Indian breads.
- Place one of the dough circles on the heated skillet and cook for a couple of minutes on each side, the bread should dry out and get evenly coated with little brown spots. Spread a little oil. Spreading evenly with a teaspoon. Turn the bread over and allow to puff up a little. Spread a little oil on the other side and turn over and crisp on that side. Cook till a little crisp on both sides and then remove and place on a plate.
- Continue cooking all the dough circles in this manner.
Teresa O says
I pinned it! Sounds like a fun recipe to try over the weekend.