To make the Dough by Hand

Sprinkle on the sugar, add the egg, and stir in thoroughly. Add 2 cups of the flour, the salt, and the baking soda and stir to incorporate. Add another ½ cup of the flour and stir. Once you can pull the dough together into a ball, turn out onto a dry, generously floured surface. Knead, incorporating more flour only as necessary, until smooth, soft, and elastic.

To make the Dough Using a Food Processor

Combine the batter, sugar, and egg in the processor and process briefly to blend. Add 2 cups of the flour, the salt, and the baking soda; process to blend. Then add another cup of the flour and process until a ball of dough forms. Process for another 10 to 15 seconds. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a minute, incorporating more flour only as necessary. The dough should be smooth, soft, and elastic.

Set the dough aside in a tightly covered bowl, and let rest for 1½ to 2 hours; you can also let it rest overnight in a cool place if you wish.

Twenty minutes before you wish to bake, place a rack in the center of your oven, lay a baking stone, pizza stone, or a surface of unglazed quarry tiles, and preheat the oven to 500°F.

Meanwhile, dust your work surface with flour, turn out the dough, and cut it in half. Set half aside covered in plastic wrap (if you won’t be using it until the next day, refrigerate until 1 hour before you wish to bake). Cut the remaining dough in half, and then in half again. Cut each quarter into 3 equal pieces—you will have 12 pieces altogether. Roll each piece firmly between your lightly floured palms to make a smooth ball, then flatten each to a 2-inch disk on the floured surface. Set aside, loosely covered with plastic wrap, for about 15 minutes.

Working with one disk at a time on the lightly floured surface, press first one side and then the other into the flour, then roll out to a round 7 to 8 inches in diameter, working with short firm strokes of the rolling pin and rolling from the center outward; rotate the bread a quarter turn or so after each stroke of the pin. (This technique helps prevent the dough from sticking to your work surface as you roll it out.) Set aside and repeat with another disk. Stretch each bread a little more with your hands, so it’s as thin as possible.

Transfer one bread onto a baker’s peel lightly dusted with flour or the floured back of a baking sheet and use the peel or sheet to transfer the bread onto the hot baking stone or quarry tiles. Repeat with the other bread. Bake for 2 to 3 minutes, or until they are touched with color on the bottom and have little bubbles on top but are still soft and pale, then remove and wrap in a cotton cloth to stay warm and soft. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Serve as a snack or to accompany any meal: the breads are thin and seductive, so allow 3 per person.