Manakish with Zatar & Halloumi (Arabic Pizza)

Manakish or Manaqish is an Arabic flatbread, similar to a pizza & it can be sliced or folded and served either for breakfast or lunch.

Typically, the dough is topped with thyme, cheese or minced meat. In today’s post I will show you a recipe for Manakish topped with a homemade Zatar spice mix & halloumi cheese. Have fun cooking!




Cooked/Baked today: Manakish with Zatar & Halloumi (Arabic Pizza)
Difficulty: Medium
Preparation Time: 1 hour & 30 minutes
Category: Main Dishes, Arabic Cuisine, Pizza Recipes, Flatbread Recipes, Breakfast Recipes
Our Recipe rating:

Manakish with Zatar & Halloumi (Arabic Pizza)

Manakish with Zatar & Halloumi (Arabic Pizza)

Ingredients for 4 pizzas:

…for pizza dough:

• 300 grams flour
• 125 milliliters water
• 25 milliliters olive oil
• 1 heaping tablespoon yogurt
• 1 teaspoon each of salt & sugar
• ¼ cube fresh yeast (about 10 grams)

…for pizza topping:

• 75 grams halloumi cheese
• 2 teaspoons of sesame seeds
• 1 teaspoon of sumac
• 1 teaspoon of oregano
• 1 teaspoon of thyme
• ½ teaspoon of black sesame seeds
• ½ teaspoon of ground coriander
• Olive oil to sprinkle the pizzas

Required kitchen gadgets, helper & preparations:

• Tall conatiner for yeast water mixture
• Whisk
• Mixing bowl
• Kitchen machine or mixer
• Kitchen towel
• Baking tray + baking paper
• Grater for halloumi cheese

Instructions:




…for pizza dough:

Crumble ¼ cubes of yeast into a tall container, add 1 teaspoon of sugar and 125 milliliters of lukewarm water and mix everything with a whisk or a fork until the yeast and sugar have completely dissolved.

Preparing Dough

Then put the yeast-water mixture along with 300 grams flour, 25 milliliters olive oil, 1 heaping tablespoon yogurt & 1 teaspoon of salt to a mixing bowl and knead with your hands or a food processor for about 4 – 5 minutes until a smooth dough.




Divide the dough into 2 equal sized pieces, then form into small balls. Place the dough balls with a bit distance to each other on a lined baking tray & allow to rest covered with a kitchen towel for about 30 – 45 minutes.

…more preparations:

Preheat the oven to at least 200°C (top/bottom heat) in good time. For the Zatar spice mixture put

• 2 teaspoons of sesame seeds
• 1 teaspoon of sumac
• 1 teaspoon of oregano
• 1 teaspoon of thyme
• ½ teaspoon of black sesame seeds
• ½ teaspoon of ground coriander

in a small bowl & mix. Roughly grate halloumi cheese with a grater & provide both.

…for Arabic pizzas:




After the resting period, flatten the dough balls with your hands to small, plate-sized flatbreads, also press many small wells into the dough with your fingers. Then sprinkle the pizzas with the spice mixture & also top with grated halloumi cheese.

Topping Pizzas

Finally, drizzle both pizzas with plenty of olive oil and bake in the preheated oven for about 10 – 12 minutes until golden brown and crispy. Then take the flatbreads out of the oven, cut into strips or pieces and serve. Have fun baking!

Video Tutorial:

Watch the video tutorial to see the recipe and the preparation method precisely (German Audio only, English Subtitles available):