Stone-baked flatbreads with cured sardines

Instructions

1. Step 1

   To make the flatbread dough, pour the water into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, add the flours, sugar, yeast and olive oil, and mix on low speed for 2 minutes, then add the salt. (Alternatively, mix the ingredients in a bowl and then knead by hand for about 20 minutes)

2. Step 2

   Continue mixing on a slow speed for 15 minutes until the dough is elastic. It should be very soft and still a bit sticky

3. Step 3

   Transfer the dough to a large container with a lid and prove for 24–48 hours in the refrigerator. You can leave the dough in the refrigerator for up to 4 days to develop the flavour

4. Step 4

   To make the cured sardines, place the sardines in a deep tray and cover completely with the salt. Leave the sardines to cure in the refrigerator for 24–48 hours, depending on their size. For sardines of about 50g, cure for 24 hours, and for 80g plus, cure for 48 hours

5. Step 5

   The day of serving, take the dough out of the refrigerator 4–5 hours before baking. Cut the dough into four pieces

6. Step 6

   With floured hands, form the dough into balls. Place on a tray without any flour, leaving space between them, and cover with a dish towel to prove at room temperature for about 3 hours, or until the dough has doubled in size

7. Step 7

   To bake the flatbreads, you can either use a stone pizza oven or a pizza stone in a domestic oven. If using a pizza oven, preheat it to 350°C. If you are using a domestic oven with a stone, preheat your oven to its maximum temperature with the stone inside for 1 hour before baking

8. Step 8

   Remove the sardines from the salt and rinse with cold running water. Cut off all the heads. Using a paring knife, cut a split of about 1 cm in the belly of each sardine and remove the insides while holding the sardine under cold running water. Put both your thumbs into the now-cleaned belly and push down until you feel the spine with your thumbs and separate it from the flesh – repeat with all the sardines. You will have butterflied the sardines

9. Step 9

   Both sides of each sardine will have two fillets, which are separated by a blood line. Remove all four fillets from each sardine and place in a container

10. Step 10

    Cover with the olive oil, add the bay leaves and allspice berries and cover. The sardines can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks, just make sure the fillets are submerged in the olive oil

11. Step 11

    Using a dough scraper, place a ball of dough onto a ‘00’-floured surface. Press the dough with both hands from the centre to the edge to deflate the dough. Turn the piece of dough and repeat this process on the other side, then lift the dough and stretch it between your fingers until the dough is about 25 cm long and 10 cm wide

12. Step 12

    Scatter some onion slices and salt over the flatbread. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil

13. Step 13

    Using a pizza peel or a wooden board, slide the dough into the hot oven and bake for about 2 minutes, or until the bread has risen and developed a nice golden-brown colour

14. Step 14

    Repeat the process above and bake the flatbread for 4–5 minutes or until risen and golden-brown. Repeat to bake the remaining bread

15. Step 15

    While the flatbreads are still warm, lay each flatbread with three sardine fillets and some chopped preserved lemon, sprinkle with sea salt and drizzle with olive oil