Fattoush salad with purslane, radish and homemade flatbread

This classic Lebanese salad, known as peasant's salad, is made with fresh vegetables and herbs with the addition of fried crispy day-old bread. I'm using my grandmother's recipe to make my flatbread from scratch.

Fattoush salad with purslane and radish with homemade flatbread Credit: China Squirrel

• serves

  6

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

Lebanese bread

• 125 ml (½ cup) warm (not hot) water, plus 2-3 tbsp extra
• 1 sachet dry yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp canola oil, plus extra for brushing
• 150 g (1 cup) self-raising flour
• 150 g (1 cup) plain flour
• 75 g (½ cup) plain flour, for dusting
• 1 tsp salt 
• 1 garlic clove, crushed 

Salad

• 2 bunches purslane (see Note), torn into small pieces
• 5 tomatoes, diced
• 3 Lebanese cucumbers, diced
• 1 bunch radishes, tops removed, thinly sliced
• 1 bunch mint, leaves picked
• 1 small bunch flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked
• ½ pomegranate, seeds removed 

Dressing

• 5 lemons, juiced
• 2 tsp sumac
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp salt
• 80 ml (⅓ cup) olive oil

Instructions

To make the Lebanese bread, combine the yeast with the water and sugar in a cup, cover with a small plate and rest for 5 minutes or until the yeast rises to the top of the cup.

Put the canola oil in a bowl, add the flours and salt, add the yeast mixture and the extra 2-3 tbsp of water and mix until a dough is formed. Knead for  5-10 minutes on a lightly dusted surface until smooth. Cover in plastic wrap and rest until doubled in size (ideally 2 hours, but 30 minutes is sufficient).

Preheat the oven to 220ºC.

Divide the dough into 4 and roll out each to about 2 mm thick.

Stretch out the edges to about 1 mm thick to allow for some very crispy parts and some thicker parts.

Mix the crushed garlic with some oil and use to lightly brush 2 large oven trays. Place the bread on the trays and lightly brush with the garlic oil, too.

Bake until the edges are golden brown and crisp.

Remove, cool on a wire rack, break apart into large pieces and set aside.

For the dressing, combine all of the ingredients, stirring well.

To assemble, combine all of the salad ingredients in a large bowl and toss with the dressing. Add the thicker pieces of crispy bread to allow them to soak up the dressing. Right before serving, add the remaining crispy bread.

Cook's notes

• Purslane is available from farmer's markets and select greengrocers. 

Photography, styling and food preparation by China Squirrel. 

This recipe is from The Chefs' Line - a brand new series airing weeknights at 6pm on SBS. Can the passion of a home cook beat the skills of a professional chef? Missed all the action? Catch-up online and get all the recipes #TheChefsLine.

This recipe has been edited by SBS Food and may differ slightly from the series.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.