A few weeks ago, Derrick and I traveled to Lincoln, NE for the National Special Olympic USA Games. Neither of us had ever been to Lincoln, and looked forward to getting away for a few days.
We stayed at The Cornhusker Marriott, which is right downtown. We were only 3 or 4 blocks away from the Capitol building - a huge skyscraper of a building that dominates the skyline. We were also only about 6 blocks from the University of Nebraska campus, easy walking distance.
One of my favorite things to do when I'm in a new city is, of course, catching a bite to eat at places I've never been. While we were there, we ate at Chipolte, The Noodle Company, and we also had the pleasure of walking down to the Haymarket and eating at a local establishment called Lazlo's Brewery and Grill.
I suppose the big draw to Lazlo's is the home-brewed beer. Man, they had a bunch of them: Wheat Beer, Honey Beer, Scottish Style Ale, Vanilla Porter, Brown Beers, and a whole host of Seasonal Beers. Now, I am not a beer drinker, but I can see how with so many selections, this would be a haven for beer connoisseurs.
What did catch my eye on the menu was an appetizer called "Lahvosh". Their description was a sweet and thin cracker bread topped with melted Havarti cheese, baked with your choice of any three of the following ingredients: tomatoes, green peppers, bacon bits, turkey ham, artichoke hearts, mushrooms, or grilled chicken. It was big enough for two or more, and with a little "encouragement", it sounded good to Derrick, too. We ordered it with tomato, artichoke hearts and mushrooms. Mmmmmm...it was delish. Sort of a extra-thin crust white pizza. There were different variations of it on Lazlo's menu, so it can be pretty versatile.
Now that I'm home and have some weekend time to play in my kitchen, I decided to do some research and find out the story behind this "Lahvosh." What I found is Lahvosh (also spelled Lavosh and Lavash) is a flat bread with roots in the Middle East, specifically Armenia and ancient Persia. It is tradionally made from flour, water, and salt, and was cooked by rolling out the dough into a disc and sticking the dough to the side of a wood fired oven. When it was done, it would fall from the wall of the oven. When it is fresh, it is soft and flexible, but as it ages, it becomes crisp more like a cracker. Lahvosh is also called Cracker Bread.
Modern day Lahvosh (like that you may find in your supermarket) can sometimes include yeast, and may be a thicker than days of old; this makes it a good selection for sandwich wraps which are all the rage right now.
There are hundreds of recipes for Lahvosh on the web. Now there will be at least one more. The first recipe I tried was the Alton Brown - Good Eats recipe. It called for a whole egg (whole as in yolk and white) and butter. It was OK, but I found I didn't really care for the taste of the "whole" egg; specifically, since there are very few ingredients in the bread, the yolk was almost overpowering, and the butter was very bland. So I adjusted the recipe slightly and tried again, using two egg whites and olive oil instead of butter. Much better flavor!!
After the bread is baked, try making the white pizza (You don't have to use Harvarti cheese, regular old Mozzarella will do). You'll feel rustic and slightly primeval...then you'll feel satisfied as this flat bread rests in your belly. Truly, this is not hard. You can do it!
LAHVOSH
2 1/2 Cups all purpose flour
3 TBSP sugar
1 tsp salt
2/3 Cup water
2 egg whites
2 TBSP olive oil
Whisk together the flour, sugar and salt in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the water, egg whites and olive oil. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until completely incorporated. (If the dough is really dry, add water ONE TBSP at a time). Knead the dough by hand about 10 times in the bowl. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and separate into thirds. Cover with a damp tea towel and let rest for 30 minutes. Now pre-heat your oven to 375*.
After resting, place dough on a lightly greased pizza stone (or just a plain old pizza pan if you don't have a stone) and roll out very thin. Each 1/3 of dough will roll out to about a 13-14 inch circle.
Bake 12 - 15 minutes.
If you like your crust a little softer, go with 12; I happen to be a crispy crust person, so I go 15. Let your crust cool sightly, then layer on your toppings.
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