Lavoush

This bread is a staple in Eastern Turkey, Georgia and Armenia. It is now a London staple as well, as every restaurant we have worked in has seemed to serve a version of it, and it’s easy to see why—it’s crispy, light and works with everything. At the restaurant we sometimes serve it with soft things that need scooping, like taramasalata or baba ganoush here. The topping should be complementary in flavor and there is no end to the variations—za’atar is good; all kinds of seeds in all kinds of combinations; crushed nuts; chili flakes; most spices; crunchy sea salt and so on. We like to bake a whole sheet and break it into freeform uneven shards, but if you need something less rustic looking, cut it before baking into whatever shape you want.

Will make 4 large pieces—good for 4–6 people to eat with dips

1½ cups/180g unbleached bread flour

1 tbsp/14g soft butter

a pinch of sugar

½ tsp salt

¼–⅓ cup/60–80ml water

1 egg for brushing

your choice of topping for sprinkling

Mix the flour, butter, sugar and salt together and start adding the water until you have a really heavy, dry dough that just comes together, but isn’t soft or subtle. Bring it to a rough ball and wrap it in plastic wrap. Place it in the fridge to rest for a minimum of 1 hour—you can leave it for up to 2 days.

Heat your oven to 375°F. Remove the plastic wrap and divide the dough into four. On a clean surface, roll each quarter as thinly as you can get it. You can use a pasta machine if you own one, but rolling by hand works just as well. Keep turning it over and rotating the dough, so that you give it a good working as you are rolling. If you made the dough dry enough, you will not need any extra flour for rolling, but if it does start to stick, dust the surface with a little flour.

Lift each piece of thinly rolled dough carefully and lay on a baking sheet. If you only have deep trays, flip them over and use them upside-down, as the bread needs to be baked on a surface without sides for better air circulation. Brush the top with some beaten egg and sprinkle with the topping of your choice. Bake for 10–12 minutes, until the bread turns golden. Remove to a cooling rack to crisp up and once they are cold place in a sealed container. These will keep for a couple of days, but are so moreish that there isn’t much chance of that happening.