FLAT BREAD (low histamine) 

A simple low histamine flat bread to make in minutes!

Fermented food and most food containing gluten is high histamine. So if you have a histamine intolerance you may have to avoid fermented breads and flours which contain gluten. This can be quite challenging.

In my Low Histamine e-Cookbook I suggest a way around this with a recipe for soda bread, which has proved to be really popular. So I wanted to expand my bread recipes to include a flat bread, because it is so easy and fast to make. 

The ingredients of this flat bread, if you use gluten free whole grains such as oats/buckwheat/quinoa/amaranth etc means the bread becomes a healthy source of fibre for beneficial gut function. Plus you can also add in other low histamine gentle fibre such as psyllium husk. 

There seems to be a connection between Long Covid, gut health and potential histamine intolerance - to learn more take a look at this booklet I co-authored here.  

240g gluten free flour* - I use half/half: oat flour and hulled buckwheat flour but use whichever gluten free flour you like. If you don't need to follow a low histamine diet then I also sometimes use besan (chickpea flour) half/half with oat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
230g Quark (quark is similar to yoghurt but it is not fermented, so low histamine) or use yoghurt if you don't need to be low histamine
Pinch of salt 
Optional - 2 teaspoons psyllium husk powder
Optional - 1 teaspoon dried herbs and/or spices
To cook with: 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil 

Mix all ingredients in a bowl, when it starts to come together use your hands to bring it all into a slightly sticky ball.
On a floured surface knead the dough briefly until smooth and no longer sticky; it does not need to be kneaded for long as it is not a yeast based dough. Use straight away or place back in the bowl and cover and allow to rest for 30 mins. Note - this bread does not need kneading, so don’t over work it.
Roll out to whatever size you prefer, I like to make small ones with a diameter of 10cm-14cm. The recipe quantity is based on this size. Roll them out to be thin, about 1cm - 2cm thick.

To cook the flatbreads in a frypan/skillet:
Add 1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil to a frypan; Warm the frypan on high heat so it becomes hot.
Then turn the heat to medium and cook a portion of flat bread for approximately 1-2 minutes on one side and then flip for 1 minute on the other side.
If you are unsure about whether the bread is cooked, pull your first one from the pan and as soon as it is cool enough to touch, pull it apart and check it has cooked through. It usually cooks very fast, so unlikely to still be doughy in the centre. This, I hope, will give you confidence to cook up the rest of the batch. 
Cook up all the mixture as it does not keep well beyond a couple of hours and does not freeze well. 
I prefer to eat these flat breads whilst warm, just after cooking, because they taste best then! They don't keep well beyond the day they are made because they go quite hard. 

Once cooked I eat them as a flat bread to accompany a dish. Or I tend to top them with cooked egg yolk (egg white can sometimes be triggering to someone with histamine intolerance),the cooked egg yolk gently mashed with a little herbs such as tarragon or oregano and salt and pepper. Or I top them with slices of soft mozzarella (soft mozzarella is unfermented so low histamine), salt, pepper, oregano, thyme and melt the mozzarella a bit so they are like a pizza.

*Spelt flour, which is lower in gluten than wheat flour but not gluten free, may be tolerated by a person with histamine intolerance.