Pfannenbrot (pan-fried flatbread)

Method

1. Whisk the flour, yeast and salt together. Add the warm water and olive oil, mix to a dough, then knead by hand for 5 minutes, until smooth.
2. Cover and prove in a warm place for 30 minutes, until visibly puffy; it does not need to double, this dough is not looking for full loft.
3. Divide into 4 pieces and roll each out thin, about 20 cm across and 3 mm thick, on a lightly floured surface.
4. Heat a little butter or oil in a large, heavy frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook one flatbread at a time, 2 to 3 minutes per side, until well browned in patches and puffed slightly.
5. Wrap the cooked flatbreads in a clean tea towel as you go, to keep them soft and warm while the rest cook.

Method in the Thermomix

Written for a TM5 or TM6, 2.2 litre bowl. This covers only kneading the dough; rolling and pan-frying stay conventional.

1. Flour, yeast and salt into the bowl. Mix 5 sec / speed 5. Add the warm water and oil. Knead 2 min / dough mode.
2. Tip out, prove and continue by hand from step 3 of the hand method.

Notes

• A heavy pan holds heat more steadily than a thin one, which matters here since you are cooking several flatbreads back to back over the same burner.
• Wrap finished flatbreads in a tea towel as you go. Left uncovered on a rack, they dry out and turn leathery within minutes.
• Roll them thin rather than thick. A thick flatbread cooks unevenly in a pan, browning outside while staying doughy in the centre.
• They are best eaten warm, the same day; reheat briefly in a dry pan rather than a microwave, which turns them tough.

Ingredient substitutions

• Olive oil in the dough can be any neutral oil.
• A little chopped garlic and herbs worked into the dough turns this into a garlic flatbread; fold them in during the initial knead.
• Wholemeal flour can replace up to half the white flour for a nuttier result, though the dough will be slightly less pliable to roll.