Olive Oil Matzo

Name: Olive Oil Matzo
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 12 servings
Cuisine: jewish
Ingredients: 2 cups flour; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/3 cup olive oil; Sea salt, optional

By Mark Bittman

Total Time: 30 minutes
Rating: 5(288)
Comments: Read comments

There is a wonderful Sardinian flatbread known as carta musica — sheet music, because it is nearly impossibly thin — that I never thought of making. Something about its ethereal nature made me assume that it would be too difficult. Turns out, making this bread is a snap, and the dough has such a high percentage of olive oil that rolling it super-thin is almost no work at all. The dough is a joy to work with. It’s almost impossible to tear and, with a minimum of additional flour, is stick-free. Baking takes a bit of practice because the oven must be heated to reach a very high temperature before the dough is inserted. The last few breads will bake a bit faster than the first few because the baking sheet will be hot.

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Ingredients

Yield:12 servings

2cups flour
½teaspoon salt
⅓cup olive oil
Sea salt, optional

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Preparation

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Step 1
Heat oven to 500 degrees. Put flour, salt and olive oil in a food processor. Once machine is on, add ½ cup water. Continue to run machine until dough forms a firm ball, rides around on blade and is not at all sticky. (If you prefer, whisk together the water and oil and add this to machine all at once.)
Step 2
Cut dough into 12 small balls — this is easiest if you cut the ball in half, then half again, then into thirds — and flatten each into a 3- to 4-inch patty. On a well-floured surface, use a rolling pin to roll each patty into a 6- to 8-inch circle. The shapes can be irregular, but dough should be so thin you can almost see through it.
Step 3
Put dough on ungreased cookie sheets, sprinkle with sea salt if you like, and bake for about 2 to 3 minutes, keeping a very close eye on breads — they can burn very quickly. Once they begin to puff up and brown, flip and cook for another minute or so on second side. Repeat with all the dough and let cool completely.

Ratings

5 out of 5

288 user ratings

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Comments

Lisa6 years ago

Sounds great for crackers, but careful about calling it matzah for your religious guests... Dough that sits for more than about 18 minutes before baking is considered bread (no good for Passover!)

Richard Scher6 years ago

I baked at 450F. They took an extra couple of minutes, but no need to flip - they crisp and tan nicely. Slightly lower heat more manageable for us older bakers, who are not as quick or agile as we once were. But the key is: roll the dough so thin you can see thru it.

beezpgh4 years ago

Made these last year and halfway through baking, discovered by accident that sprinkling with sesame seeds for the final roll-out made the dough stay super thin on my board; they cooked to a crackle the first ones lacked, and were not only delicious, the sesame seeds baked to a translucent dot that was visually enchanting. Getting ready to make these again and thought worth sharing.

Jade L.2 months ago

This was so good! I made it for Holy Thursday and everyone loved it!!

Linda M.2 months ago

What if you don’t have a food processor .

Sharon McN2 months ago

My oven isn’t working. Could this cook on the stovetop griddle?

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