Naancaccia: A Butter-Drenched, No-Knead Flatbread Singing with Field Garlic

Winter’s approach signals the demise of annual plants, and the beginning of a months-long slumber for most perennials. But there are exceptions.  A recent walk in a crunchy-leafed forest in New York revealed the fresh green spikes of field garlic (invasive Allium vineale—also called onion grass and wild chives). The summer-dormant weed is newly awake, despite a regional drought, and is ready to grow and persist through the coldest months; its cylindrical leaves reach peak juiciness in next year’s spring. A pungent handful flavors a crisp, yet fluffy, field garlic naancaccia (we’ll explain)— a flatbread whose recipe is below. It will be welcome—and quickly devoured—on any Thanksgiving menu, or at any time where we pause to reflect on what we have to be thankful for, and take for granted: edible weeds that grow in winter, for example. And flour, water, salt; the oven to cook the bread; the walls and roof to contain the kitchen; the time and safety to savor a meal.

Find the recipe below. (And take courage: You can use any green-leafed onion in lieu of the vagabond field garlic.)

Photos by Marie Viljoen

Backstory: This golden flatbread, pillowy inside, crunchy at the edges, evolved in a rental apartment in Cape Town a few months ago, in that city’s early, chilly spring. Friends were coming to supper and butter chicken was on the menu, but I didn’t have the equipment (two wide cast iron pans) to make my usual naan to serve alongside the saucy main course. Another friend, though, had lent me a compact, lidded cast iron pot known in South Africa as a potjie (“poy-kee”) for cold-weather comfort cooking, and so a hybrid was born: a cross between butter and yogurt-enriched naan, and olive oil slicked focaccia (which I can probably make in my sleep). It went by the cumbersome name potjienaancaccia. Now, it is naancaccia, for anyone without a potjie but who does own a solid cast iron pan, and who loves the aroma and crackle of fresh-baked bread.

My favorite pan for baking this bread (as well as focaccia) is a 10 ¼-inch cast iron skillet by Lodge: $19.99

Once the dough is mixed, it rises once, is transferred to its baking dish where it rests before being dimpled, and then it rises again. The baking time in a hot oven is just 20 minutes.

Field Garlic Naancaccia

This richly satisfying bread is best eaten the same day it is baked. But it freezes and reheats very well, like most breads: to freeze, skip the butter-drench when it is done, and transfer the cooled naancaccia to the freezer, well-wrapped. Simply heat it (still frozen, and wrapped in foil) in a moderate oven for 20 minutes, before serving. It’s as good as new. Any green onions can stand in for field garlic: scallion greens, chives, onions, Chinese chives, three-cornered leeks (a pest on the West Coast, and native to southern Europe), or ramp and ramson leaves.

Field Garlic Butter

• 2 oz unsalted butter
• 3 Tablespoons field garlic (or chives, etc.)

Naancaccia

• 250 grams (2 cups) bread flour
• 1 teaspoon instant yeast
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup + 3 Tablespoons warm tap water
• 3 Tablespoons Greek yogurt
• 2 Tablespoons melted unsalted butter
• 1 large egg
• 2 Tablespoons very finely chopped field garlic
• ¼ extra virgin olive oil for pan

For the garlic butter: If making ahead, use the flat of a chef’s knife to mash up the butter with the finely-chopped field garlic. Plop onto a square of baking parchment and roll into a log shape. Chill until needed, then slice it to top the hot bread. Or: Add the field garlic to the melted butter just before drizzling it over the bread.

For the naancaccia: Combine the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt in a bowl. In a small bowl combine the water, yogurt, melted butter, egg, and field garlic. Stir with a fork to combine. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix well. Cover and place in warm spot (I use a microwave with a bowl of just-boiled water in it to raise the temperature) until almost doubled in size and aerated, about 1 ½  to 1 ¾ hours.

Oil a 10-inch cast iron skillet or potjie with all the oil.

Stir the risen dough to deflate it. Transfer it to the oiled pan. Cover and allow it to rest for 20 minutes. Now oil your fingers well (dip them into the oil already in the pan) and dimple the dough all over, working it outwards towards the sides of the skillet. When it touches the sides all around, cover and allow to rise for about 50 minutes, until it looks pillowy.

Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Transfer the risen naancaccia to the oven and bake until deep golden, usually 20 minutes. Remove it, and while it is hot, and ideally just before serving, top it with thin slices of the field butter log, or with the just-prepared, melted field garlic butter.

See also:

• Tender Serviceberry Pie (Inclusive of Any Berry in Season)
• No-Knead Field Garlic Naan: A Recipe for Wild Comfort
• A No-Knead Focaccia for Thanksgiving and Beyond