Sardinian Flat Bread Carta da musica /Music Paper Bread

Yesterday I saw an article Olive oil Matzo in New York Times by The Minimalist Mark Bittman which was inspired from the famous Sardinian flat bread Carta da musica or Music paper bread. What I liked was the simplicity and ease with which the bread could be made. Hence I wanted to try it immediately. In classic Sardinian bread yeast, Semolina flour, and all purpose flour are used. The history of this bread is also interesting. The shepherds from Sardinia, of southern Italy used to take thin flat bread while going to work in the pastures, as this bread can be kept for a long time without spoiling in the room temperature. They used to have it with cheese and some tomato sauce and sausage. This bread is baked in a brick oven as 14-15 inch rounds, once they come out oven immediately bread is cut along the rim into two thin pieces.  This bread is supposed to stay without spoiling for more than a year. 

I wanted to make Sardinian bread without yeast. I found two recipes here and here making bread without using yeast. I asked my hubby shall we can try this. Yes you can he said and let us have it for dinner. Then I realized that I had no semolina flour on hand. I ground semolina and made homemade semolina flour. Finally by around 6 P.M, I started making the dough. Kept for another 15 minutes outside and within 30 minutes my bread was ready. Modified the recipes and made like this. I didn’t cut my bread along the rim, as they are not that flexible because of any yeast. 

If you ask me how it tastes like, from my Indian view point I will say, taste like baked bhature, or like cracker, rather than a bread. Try it to make sure by yourself.

What you need

All purpose flour: 2 cup

Semolina flour: 1/2 cup

Salt: 1/2 +1/8 teaspoon

Olive oil: 1/3 cup+ 2 tablespoon oil

Water: ¾ cup

How I made

Preheat oven to 450 degree Fahrenheit.

Mix all purpose flour, semolina flour, salt in a bowl of standing mixer or food processor. Whisk together water and olive oil and add to the flours until everything combined to form dough. Knead once again to from smooth dough. Let it rest for 15 minutes. Cover the dough with damp cloth so that it won’t dry.

Make 15 equal size balls from the dough. Roll out on a lightly floured surface until paper thin rounds, I was indenting to make thin rounds or 5-6 inches, however most of them are not come out rounds. Make sure spread the bread thin as possible.

Bake it in lightly oiled baking sheets for 4 minutes on one side as it starts bubbles form on that side and flip and bake another 2 minutes. Until you see brown spots on both sides. I was able to make use of my two oven racks. Keep a watch on them, as they tend to brown quickly. Remove from the baking sheet and let it cool completely.

Repeat the process until you finish all the dough.

Serve warm. 

I served with channa curry.

Buon appetito! Enjoy!

Preparation time: 45 minutes

Yield: 15

Verdict: Crispy, tasty

Will you make it again : Yes I will