Sicilian Matalughia

                                         

This fried flat bread is made in the eastern side of Sicily, it is not sold in stores but made exclusively at home. The origin is uncertain, but is very plausible that it arrived to Sicily with the Jewish Diaspora. The name of the Jewish Yemenite fried flat bread is Malawach, which closely resembles in pronunciation our Sicilian Matalughia. Below are the steps on how to make this delicious flat bread. I will do my best to list the amounts of some of the ingredients, since I do not usually measure them. There is really no way to mess up this recipe unless you add too much water, therefore, this is the step you really need to be cautious with.

I made Mataluggia to celebrate the beginning of Passover, therefore I did not use any yeast. 

You will need the following ingredients:

2 cups of Bread flour (I use gold medal, better quality and easier to roll)
Warm water
1/2 teaspoon of Salt
Extra Virgin olive oil
Oregano
1 teaspoon dry Yeast


This will yield about 4-5 Matalugghias of a diameter of 5" each

In a large bowl mix the flour  with the salt while still dry, taste to check for salt and add more if needed.

 Create a crater in the center of the flour, and add some of the water and the yeast. This is when the fun begins! Get your hands in the dough and start mixing it.
You want to obtain a dough that is firm and not wet, carefully add the water in increments.

Knead until the dough is nice and smooth, this recipe does not call for the dough to raise, therefore you can start rolling your flat breads right away.

Pour three-four tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet, when it gets hot, sprinkle in some oregano and now you can fry your first Matalughia. Wait until it turns golden brown, now is time to flip it but your skillet may have dried and needs more oil in order to fry the other side, lift the matalughia off of the skillet and pour a little olive oil in it, as soon as it gets hot sprinkle some oregano and lay your bread on it to fry the other side. That's it! Continue rolling and frying the rest of your dough. Enjoy!