Thin semolina parcels filled with a reduced onion and tomato mixture.
Mhadjeb need a supple dough and a filling that has cooled before folding. This all-semolina version takes practice, so make the first parcel slowly and keep the remaining dough covered.
- Prep
- 45 minutes
- Cook
- 50 minutes
- Total
- 1 hour 35 minutes
- Serves
- 6 large flatbreads
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Cuisine
- Algerian
The recipe
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Before you start
Knead and rest the dough while you cook the filling. Let the filling cool completely, then stretch, fill and fold each flatbread just before it goes into the pan.
Ingredients
Quantities change with servings; cooking times stay the same.
Equipment
- Large mixing bowl paid link
- Heavy skillet paid link
- Wide work surface paid link
- Spatula paid link
Method
Mix the semolina and dough salt with 300 ml water. Knead for 15–20 minutes, adding the extra water gradually as needed, until smooth, soft and elastic. Divide into 6 balls, coat lightly with some neutral oil, cover and rest for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook the onions in the olive oil over medium-low heat for 12 minutes. Add the tomatoes, garlic, filling salt, pepper and optional chilli. Cook for 15–20 minutes until thick, with no loose liquid. Spread on a plate to cool.
Oil your hands and worktop lightly. Stretch one dough ball gradually into a thin sheet about 30 cm across. Spread one-sixth of the cold filling in the middle. Fold the sides over it, then the top and bottom, to make a square parcel.
Heat a heavy skillet over medium heat and brush with a little of the remaining oil. Cook the parcel for about 3 minutes on each side, until golden in patches and the dough is cooked through. Lower the heat if it browns too fast.
Stretch and fill the next parcel while the previous one cooks. Keep the cooked flatbreads under a clean cloth and serve warm.
Chef’s notes
If the dough springs back, cover it and let it relax for another 10 minutes. Wet filling or hot filling makes the sheet harder to handle and more likely to tear.
Tips and variations
Use very fine semolina intended for dough, not coarse couscous. A little tearing on your first attempt is manageable: fold that area inside the parcel.
Serve with
Serve whole or cut into halves with a fresh salad. The source photograph includes optional lemon and mint.
Storage
Refrigerate within 2 hours, or 1 hour above 32°C, at 4°C or below. Use within 2 days. Reheat until the filling reaches 74°C, then crisp briefly in a skillet.
Nutrition per serving (estimated)
Nutrition has not been calculated. Values depend on portion size and ingredients used.
Allergens
Contains wheat/gluten.
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Questions
Can I make the filling ahead? Yes. Refrigerate it promptly and use within 2 days.
Can I freeze the cooked parcels? Freeze individually for up to 1 month, then thaw in the refrigerator before reheating.
Sources and recipe context
This is an editorial adaptation informed by the sources below. Quantities and timings are written for this version; Sixto Carreon has confirmed kitchen testing of all ten recipes in this batch.
Soulef, Amour de Cuisine: mhadjeb
The featured image is adapted from a licensed photograph with an AI-assisted champagne background. It is a serving example, not a Sixto kitchen-test photograph. Lemon and mint shown in the photograph are optional serving accompaniments. Photographer, licence and edit details appear in Editorial Standards.
