Carta di musica with edible flowers

Carta di Musica is a traditional crisp, dry Sicilian bread that is supposedly as thin as music paper and was a popular food for shepherds heading up into the hills to look after goats or sheep because it was so long-lasting. It is traditionally made with a mixture of flour and semolina, the semolina giving it a delicious crunchy texture and a nutty flavour. Flatbreads, like this, would usually be cooked in a much hotter oven but I find that destroys the look of the flowers (they end up brown and crispy) but you can cook them in a lower oven for a bit longer and still send up with deliciously crispy bread that is great served with dips or alongside an aperitif. We’ve used spring flowers in this version but it would work with calendula, nasturtium and cornflowers.

Photos by Sharon Cosgrove

Makes 16 large crackers

For the crackers 
125g plain flour
125g fine semolina
½ teaspoon salt
130ml tepid water
A selection of pressed edible flowers and leaves, I’ve used primroses, violas, daisies, lemon balm and chervil
Olive oil for brushing
Sea salt for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 160°C. Put two large baking trays into the oven to pre-heat.

Put the flour and semolina and salt in a bowl, whisk to combine. Add most of the water and mix to form a soft dough. Add a splash more water if needed, it shouldn’t be too dry.

Let the dough rest for a couple of minutes but don’t knead it as you don’t want to develop the gluten too much.

Divide the dough into 2 pieces. On a lightly floured surface roll one piece of the dough out as thin as possible into a large circle. The dough should be thin enough you could almost read through it. Make sure it isn’t sticking to the table, add a bit more flour if you need to. Arrange the pressed edible flowers and leaves over the surface of the dough. Roll over them with the rolling pin so they are really well embedded into the dough. Brush the surface lightly with olive oil and sprinkle over sea salt. Cut the circle into 8 wedges, the way you would cut a pizza, and carefully put each wedge onto one of the pre-heated baking trays

Cook for 15 minutes, by which time they should be crisp and lightly golden. While the first batch are cooking repeat with the other piece of dough.

Allow to cool completely before eating.