Brunch
Msemen (Morocco)
- Preparation time
- 45 min
- Servings
- serves 4
Ingredients
- Flour — to buy300g
- Couscous semolina — to buy100g
- Butter — to buy80g
- Honey — to buy2 tbsp
- Salt — to buy1 pincée
Preparation
Mix the flour, semolina and a good pinch of salt with warm water, kneading until you get a soft, elastic dough that no longer sticks to your hands. Knead for at least 8-10 minutes: this long kneading develops the gluten and lets you stretch the dough very thin later.
Divide the dough into golf-ball-sized balls, oil them generously and let them rest for 20 minutes under a cloth: the oil stops them forming a crust and makes stretching easier.
On a well-oiled work surface, stretch each ball very thin by hand, gently pulling from the centre outward with your fingertips, until almost see-through — don't worry about small holes, they'll disappear when you fold.
Brush the whole surface with melted butter, then fold the dough like a letter (into thirds one way, then into thirds the other way) to create msemen's signature flaky layers.
Gently flatten each folded parcel by hand back into a neat square, without pressing too hard so you don't push out the air trapped between the layers.
Dry-cook (no added fat) in a very hot pan for 2-3 minutes per side, until the msemen is golden and you can hear the layers crackle slightly under the spatula.
Serve immediately, piping hot, plain or with honey, jam or a little melted butter.