Hi everyone! Hope you're all having a great Monday! Today's dish is a traditional delicacy from our sister island, Gozo! This delicious flat bread is generally topped with local products such as, cheeselets (known as Gbejna) slices of Maltese sausage and also roast potatoes! The options are endless! This meal is traditionally enjoyed by the beach, while sipping some ice cold Maltese craft beer! 

Ingredients: makes 2 portions of Gozitan ftira 

  • 450g of plain flour
  • 250ml lukewarm water
  • 1 tablespoon of honey
  • 9g of instant yeast
  • 1 spoon of olive oil
  • 1/4th of a teaspoon of seasalt
  • 5 fresh gbejniet (cheeslets) - unfortunately gbejniet are only found locally, hence I suggest you replace the cheeselets with 2 tubs of ricotta for the filling 
  • 250g ricotta
  • 50g of grated parmesan cheese 
  • 2 eggs
  • Maltese sausage (any pork based sausage will do)
  • One red onion, roughly chopped 
  • 1 teaspoon of sesame seeds 

Alternatively, this ftira can be filled with any flavour combinations, including tuna chunks, tomatoes, capers, olives, basil leaves and also, thinly sliced potatoes!

Method

  • Sift the flour and add the seasalt and olive oil. 
  • In a separate jug, mix 250ml of lukewarm water with the honey and add the yeast. Once the yeast starts forming bubbles on the surface of the water, add the water mixture to the flour and using a wooden spoon, combine, until crumbs form.
  • Knead the dough roughly for about 10 minutes and cover using a damp tea towel. Let the dough proof for at least two hours. Make sure to oil the bowl used for proofing for easy dough removal.
  • Set the dough aside and start working on the filling. Add the cheeselets and ricotta to a bowl, together with the two eggs and combine until a well-combined mixture is obtained 
  • Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius 
  • Once the dough has doubled in size, half the dough ball and roll it out over two 9 inch pans. 
  • Next, fill the dough with the desired ingredients, crumble the sausage on top as well as the roughly chopped onion. Roll the ends of the dough on top of the filling to create a rustic border of sorts, and using a kitchen brush, brush olive oil over the sides and add some sesame seeds (optional)
  • Bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 200 degrees Celcius or until the ricotta, gbejna mixture has solidified. 
  • Serve with a fresh salad or simply enjoy with a cold drink!