Gozitan Ftira
October 24, 2020 at 7:47 am,
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How often do I dream about just taking a day off and venturing to our little sister island, Gozo? One of my favourite parts is venturing through the charming villages, to locate a bakery serving freshly made, piping hot, ftira (pl: ftajjar). You can virtually add anything to your ftira, but classical Mediterranean toppings remain my favourites! Let's begin!
Ingredients: For the ftira with gbejniet friski
- 475g of plain flour (lamb brand)
- 250ml lukewarm water
- 1 tablespoon of brown sugar or granulated sugar (lamb brand)
- 9g of instant yeast (lamb brand)
- 1 1/2 spoons of extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 tspn of sea-salt
- 2 gbejniet (local cheeselets) *you can opt for ricotta instead (add a tub)
- 1 heaped tbsp of ricotta
- 50g of grated pecorino cheese
- 2 eggs
- Maltese sausage (any pork based sausage will do)
- One red onion, roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon of sesame seeds
Another topping idea...Mediterranean ftira
- 7 cherry tomatoes (roughly chopped)
- Basil (roughly chopped)
- Onion (roughly chopped)
- 1 tspn of dried oregano (lamb brand)
- Maltese sausage (crumbled)
- Grated ġbejna or mozzarella (depending on preference)
- A spoon of black olives
- Capers (optional)
- Sundried tomatoes (optional)
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Sesame seeds (sprinkled on top)
Method
- Sift the flour and add the sea-salt 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. Add the pecorino for an extra kick of flavour. Season with salt and pepper.
- 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 over 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 Celsius or until the ricotta, ġbejna mixture has solidified.
- For the Mediterranean ftira, simply create the ftira as though you were about to make a pizza. Add all the ingredients on top and sprinkle the ġbejna or mozzarella on top.
- You can also add some slice potatoes to the ftira, for a more traditional creation!
- Serve out of the oven, piping hot with a fresh salad or simply enjoy with a cold beer!
