Gluten Free Moroccan Flatbread with Parsley Pesto and Merguez is a Moroccan-inspired flatbread that’s made with brown rice flour.
The dough is very simple. A combination of brown rice flour and plain yogurt. No gums, no gimmicks.
Slather the pesto on the bread and arrange the toppings. If you can’t find merguez, use any sausage you’d like or perhaps this ground meat with a delicious seasoning.
Bake until the edges are browned, crispy and as delightful to bite into as a cracker.
Have a slice, or two, or three, or the whole bread if that makes you happy.
Gluten Free Moroccan Flatbread with Parsley Pesto and Merguez Recipe
Yields 2 medium flatbreads or 4 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20-25 minutes
Bread
- 2 1/2 cups brown rice flour
- 1/2 tablespoon unrefined brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 cup plain yogurt
Pesto
- Half a bunch parsley
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 tablespoon pinenuts (optional)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- Sea salt and ground pepper, to taste
Toppings
- 1 (12-ounce) ball of mozzarella, sliced
- 2 medium tomatoes, thinly sliced
- 2/3 pound merguez (or other) sausages, removed from casing
Place a large oven sheet on the middle rack of the oven. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
Whisk together the rice flour, brown sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add the yogurt and work it in with your hands. Collect the mixture into a ball.
If having some challenge with that, wet your hands or add a tablespoon of water and it should be easy to do. Divide the dough ball into two balls of equal size.
Cut two pieces of parchment paper large enough for an 8- to 9-inch bread. Sprinkle both parchment papers with cornmeal. Place each ball of dough on a cornmeal dusted parchment paper.
Flatten each dough ball, starting in the middle and moving outward, until you obtain a disc about 1/8-inch thin. If the dough breaks while you’re stretching it, mend it back and flatten it again.
I recommend not using a rolling pin to flatten the dough.
Cook the merguez sausage in 2 tablespoons of olive oil until crumbled and browned. Drain to remove excess fat. Set aside.
Blend the ingredients for the pesto in a food processor until finely minced. Slather the pesto on each flatbread using your hands or a spoon.
Arrange the toppings on the flatbreads, starting with the mozzarella, and following with the merguez and tomato slices.
Carefully transfer the breads on their parchment paper to the preheated oven sheet, using an oven mitt to avoid burning your hands.
Bake until the dough is crispy and brown around the edges, and the toppings cooked, 20 to 25 minutes.
Serve immediately.
