One of the tastiest things to eat is warm manakeesh with some hot tea. Trust me on this. Make some nice, strong tea and sweeten generously. Enjoy it with this tangy/savory bread.

I tagged this as semi-homemade, because the dough is typically home-made, but when you are short on time, frozen supermarket pizza dough is a good substitute.
I always pick up a couple of package of supermarket frozen pizza dough during my weekly shopping trips- the kind that comes in a small ball. I usually also have one or two as backup in the freezer. We try to do one pizza night per week, varying toppings. It is fast and easy to prepare, and my son loves to help make pizza. Tonight he helped by mixing the oil and zaatar, and spreading it on the dough.

Manakeesh will usually be a little less puffy than this one when it made with the home-made dough. I will feature the home-made dough in a future post.

We have this on weekend mornings or for dinner. There were a few pieces leftover after dinner, and my husband promptly put them away to have for breakfast tomorrow.

Note – you can completely omit the cheese.

To make it a complete meal, put out several of the following small plates: lightly salted sliced tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, Akkawi/Feta/Halloumi cheese, olives, labneh, fried or boiled eggs.

Manakeesh – Zaatar Pizzas

1 lb package frozen whole wheat pizza dough, defrosted and brought to room temperature
4 tablespoons zaatar
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella or feta or a blend of the two
1/2 – 1 teaspoon sumac (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Cut dough into two rounds. Roll each one out to about a 10 inch round. Prick with tines of a fork.

Pour olive oil into a bowl. Add zaatar and stir to incorporate completely.

On first round, pour out half the zaatar oil mixture. Spread evenly.

On second round, pour out the rest of the zaatar oil mixture, and spread. Sprinkle cheese on top. Sprinkle with sumac, if using.

Bake 12-15 minutes until dough is done.