This recipe for Olive Oil Flatbreads with Fried Aubergine, Boiled Eggs and Harissa Mayo is my own twist on a stunning image I saw on Instagram shot by Gareth Morgan for Tesco Magazine. It looked so good and the flavour combinations so up my alley, I immediately set out to find the recipe.

The recipe was a pita filled with boiled eggs, fried aubergine, red onion and the spicy, herby middle eastern sauce called zhoug. Zhoug is from Yemenite origin and a popular sauce in Syria and Israel. I think the first I tasted the sauce was in Beirut at Tawlet.

I felt like baking bread so skipped buying the the pita breads and made my own olive oil flatbreads. Granted, a bit more effort than store bought pita bread but nothing beats freshly baked bread and these are ridiculously easy to make. The recipe for the flatbreads come from one of my favourite blogs, Milk and Honey

I did not make my own zhoug but opted to make a harissa mayo that I knew would work well with the boiled eggs and the aubergine. There are many recipes out there for harissa if you want to make your own but I opted for a shortcut and used the harissa paste made by Pesto Princess. I always have a bottle of their harissa in the fridge and another one in the freezer as backup. It is such a great sauce to jazz up a meal. Liberally brush some sliced chicken breasts with the harissa, let it marinade, then flash fry and serve on top of a salad. Quick, easy and so good.

These olive oil flatbreads make a fabulous vegetarian breakfast, lunch or dinner and you can get creative as you like with the toppings. The recipe is for 8 flatbreads and the toppings are for 4 so you will have some flatbreads left over for the quantity of toppings mentioned so just pop them in the freezer. Or double the quantity of the toppings. Enjoy!

I hope you enjoy this recipe for Olive Oil Flatbreads with Fried Aubergine, Boiled Eggs and Harissa Mayo. If you’ve made the recipe share your dish with me by tagging @heinstirred on Instagram or Facebook with the hashtag #heinstirred.

Olive Oil Flatbreads with Fried Aubergine, Boiled Eggs and Harissa Mayo

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Ingredients

Olive Oil Flatbreads makes about 8
330 ml warm water
1 tsp active dry yeast
400 g flour plus more for kneading and rolling out
2 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp Baleia Extra Virgin Olive Oil plus more for the bowl
Seasonings for flatbreads:
Baleia Extra Virgin Olive Oil
sesame seeds
chilli flakes
sea salt flakes
Toppings for 4 flatbreads :
2 aubergines sliced into 4-5mm slices
3 tbsp Baleia Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4 eggs at room temperature
¼ red onion very thinly sliced
3 tbsp harissa depending on strength of the paste
½ cup mayo
fresh coriander to garnish

Instructions

Flatbreads :
Sift the flour and salt together in a large bowl and make a well in the centre
Add the yeast and olive oil to the water then pour it into the well in the dry ingredients, stir to bring it together
The dough will be sticky and wet
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 5 minutes or until smooth and quite elastic, incorporating extra flour as required
Oil a large bowl (about half a tablespoon of olive oil should do) and place the dough in it, turning to coat
Cover with cling film and let it sit in a warm spot until it’s doubled in size
Preheat a griddle pan over high heat
Divide the dough into golf ball sized pieces (about 8) and on a floured surface roll each out to form a small oval shape, of about 5mm thickness
Cook the flatbreads for about 1½ minutes on one side until charred in spots
While the flatbread is cooking brush the exposed side with some olive oil and sprinkle with the sesame seeds and chilli flakes
Turn the flatbread over and cook it briefly for about another minute or so until the bread is cooked through
Remove them from the heat, brush with more olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt flakes.
Repeat until all the flatbreads are cooked
Wrap them in foil while your prepare the toppings
Heat some olive oil in a large nonstick frying pan over a medium-high heat.
Fry the aubergine in batches for about 4 mins on each side until cooked, covering the pan to keep the heat in and to help soften the flesh (add more oil as needed).
Transfer to a piece of greaseproof paper, season and set aside while cooking the remaining aubergine
Meanwhile, bring a medium saucepan of water to the boil and add the eggs
Boil for 8 mins for medium hard-boiled or 9 mins for hard-boiled
Drain and refill the pan with cold water
Add the cooked eggs and set aside
Mix the harissa and mayo and spoon some of the mayo on the base of 4 flatbreads, then divide the aubergine and sliced onion between the flatbreads
Peel and thickly slice the eggs and add them on top
Finish with the remaining mayo and garnish with some fresh coriander

** Olive Oil provided by Baleia Extra Virgin Olive Oil. I am proud to be associated with Baleia Extra Virgin Olive Oil and use it whenever a recipe requires Extra Virgin Olive Oil. The South African cold press extra virgin Olive Oil is produced in the Riversdale area, has a whiff of fresh cut grass and aromas of green tomatoes, almonds artichokes and green apples.

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A few more of my favourite bread recipes

Ukrainian Garlic Bread