I love exploring ancient grains and the Khorasan grain is of particular interest as it lends itself to organic farming, its height making it naturally resistant to fungal attacks. Being wholemeal, this flour is delicious and gives lots of fibre too. You could use a plain flour but you would need to adjust the quantity upwards.
This recipe was inspired from one by George Kalombaris, a Greek chef owner of many successful restaurants in Australia, author of cookery books and Australia’s MasterChef judge for many years.
The crispbreads are perfect at the end of a meal and go beautifully with all types of cheese.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ tsp fast acting yeast
- 125ml tepid water
- 200g organic wholemeal Khorasan flour
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 egg
- A couple of tbsp poppy seeds
- A couple of tbsp fennel seeds
- Fleur de sel for sprinkling
- Plain flour for dusting
Method
Put the yeast and the tepid water in a bowl and mix well until the yeast is fully dissolved. Place the bowl somewhere warm and leave for 15 minutes until bubbles rise to the surface.
Add the honey, olive oil and salt to the liquid as well as the flour adding it in stages and mixing with your hands until you have a soft dough. Make a ball, flatten it slightly with your palms and wrap in plastic wrap. Rest the dough in the fridge for about an hour.
Preheat the oven to 180 0 C.
Take pieces of the dough, flatten it a little in your hands and put through a pasta machine, dusting it with flour regularly and stop short of the finest setting (my machine goes up to 9 but I stop for these at 6). You may roll out the pastry by hand if you prefer. Cut the rolled out dough in pieces of a size you like (some times I leave them irregular and long and others I cut them in oblongs or squares but it is totally up to you) but I would generally go bigger rather than smaller. There is nothing better than the sound of fine crispbread as you break it to enjoy with great cheese.
Whisk the egg with a tablespoon of cold water and brush the crispbreads. Sprinkle with the poppy seeds, fennel seeds and salt flakes and bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes until a deep golden colour and crispy.