Coca de Recapte - Catalan Flatbread

Well! This is my first post in a LONG time. It's not that I haven't been cooking, just too disorganised to blog. Maybe I'll upload some photos to prove this. Today's dish is a catalan flatbread that I made with the help of Mr and Mrs Barcelona, who could also verify its authenticity.

The recipe for the coca de recapte dough came from Frank Camorra and Richard Cornish's "Rustica" with some minor clarifications and my ever perceptive notes. :-) The ingredients for the flatbread are:

• 500g plain flour - no need for fancy flour as catalan peasants would never have used 00 flour
  
• 1 packet dried yeast, 7g
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2-1 teaspoon sea salt
• 330ml lukewarm water
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
  

Put the yeast into the lukewarm water, dissolve then mix in the sugar, salt and olive oil. Cover and set aside in a warm place for half an hour. Don't be tempted to add more yeast like I was as you are making a flatbread, not a focaccia... Combine the flour and the wet ingredients in a bowl using a fork and once it has come together, tip out onto a clean bench. Knead by hand for 10 minutes until smooth. Although you could be a big namby-pamby and use a mixer with a dough hook, kneading let's you release some frustration and is good for the soul, so do it by hand! The dough is a little wet but not so sticky that you need to flour the bench. After the initial kneading, let it rest covered for 5-10 minutes and then knead for another 5 minutes. Cover and rest another 30 minutes and then it's ready to go. Divide into 6 portions, roll out into "tongues" and let them sit for a while on oiled baking paper that's been given a good sprinkle of polenta. The polenta gives the bottom of the flatbread a nice crunch and also prevents sticking. If the dough rises after 10 minutes, flatten it out a bit more as you want it fairly thin so that it bakes crisp. You might like to poke the tongues with a fork before loading the topping so that it doesn't puff up while cooking.

In between kneading the dough, prepare the toppings. You can use pretty much anything but it's nice to caramelise some onions and cook with thinly sliced garlic, a little chilli and bay leaves in a frypan with a pinch of salt. Make sure you add some of Mr Barcelona's signature herb: thyme. Cover and cook for 15 minutes. Other toppings might be best roasted with salt, pepper and olive oil.



Whatever you choose for your toppings, don't overload the tongues. Sometime less is more. Cook in a preheated oven at 220C for 15 minutes until nicely browned. Drizzle with a good olive oil and top with some torn parsley. In Barcelona, they serve coca de recapte cold but I think they are best eaten straight from the oven or at least while they are still warm. Here are some alternative toppings, although the list is endless:

• za'atar and labneh
• mushroom, garlic and nutmeg
• thinly sliced potato with rosemary and sea salt (some caramelised onions would also be nice)
  
• roast capsicum, eggplant and tomato
• tomato, torn zucchini flowers and ricotta (add the flowers after cooking)
• roasted kumera, cumin seed and pesto