ZA’ATAR AND MOZZARELLA ROLLS

90 MINS, INCLUDING PROVING TIME

These easy-bake rolls are made to my pizza dough recipe, but if you don’t want to make it from scratch, just buy shopbought fresh pizza dough.

SERVES 4-6 For the dough

— 500g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

— 7g packet easy-bake yeast

— oil, for greasing the bowl

For the filling

— 6 tsp za’atar

— 240g firm mozzarella

For the topping

— 30g butter, melted — 2 tsp za’atar

To make the dough, sift the flour into a bowl and add the yeast, 300ml water and a good pinch of salt. Bring together in the bowl to make a dough. Add a splash more water if it’s too dry. Tip the dough out on to a floured surface and knead for 8-10 minutes or until pale, smooth and soft.

Place in an oiled mixing bowl and cover with a clean tea towel. Leave to prove for 30 minutes.

After proving, divide the dough into 12 portions and roll them into balls. Give them all a light dusting of flour and then pat them flat into rounds. Sprinkle half a teaspoon of za’atar over each one and then pop 20g of mozzarella in the middle. Roll them all back into balls, making sure you do it well so that the filling doesn’t explode out.

Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas mark 6 and line a baking sheet with baking paper.

Arrange the rolls on the baking sheet: place one in the middle and five around that, leaving about 2½cm between them, and then place the remaining six balls around those (they will merge together while baking). Brush each roll with butter then sprinkle a little za’atar and plenty of sea salt over each one.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the dough is cooked and the tops just starting to go lightly golden. Leave them to cool for five minutes and then dive in.