Mlewi

Tunisian Semolina Flatbread

I came across mlewi on social media as a trendy street food, filled with all kinds of savory ingredients. It is mainly used for making a sort of Tunisian burrito, though you can most certainly eat them plain. What sets them apart from other flatbreads is they are laminated. They should have flakey, oily layers. Mlewi are also make with superfine semolina, which you need to buy specifically for this. If you don't have superfine semolina, I've adapted this recipe to sub in some all purpose flour.

Mlewi Ingredients

2 cups of semolina
2 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 tsp of yeast in 1/2 cup of warm water
1 1/4 cups warm water
1/2 tsp salt
A shit ton of olive oil

Method

Let your yeast get foamy. I add a little bit of sugar to get it burpin' along.

Add your semolina and salt to the yeast mix. Add the remaining water and combine. Add in the all purpose flour a 1/2 cup at a time.

Once combined knead (I recommend a stand mixer) for 15 minutes. The dough needs to become stretchy, smooth, and pliable. After kneading, oil it up and let it rest for 1 hour.

Divide the dough equally, you can make these large or small. Though I prefer them larger to be able to be filled with toppings.

Oil surface and start rolling out each serving, one at a time. Use liberal amounts of oil. Roll the dough flat and fold it over itself twice. Roll it out flat again and repeat another fold. Roll flat a third time, making it as thin as you can.

Heat a nonstick pan to medium high heat. Slap on your mlewi and let it get puffy, browning on one side before flipping it and letting it brown again.

Once they are all properly griddled, fill with whatever you like. A common addition is a combination of harissa and laughing cow cheese. French fries are also often added, along with the usual Tunisian suspects of tuna, eggs, and olives.

Notes:

It's a bit difficult to make these super thin, so be patient. You can also add ingredients inside the folds if you like, but I haven't experimented with that just yet. These are a versatile wrap that you can use in many ways. I've even read of some people using these sweet, eating them with honey while they are hot. My favorite though is the harissa and cheese.