Olive Flatbread

Is it pizza or is it flatbread?  I don’t really know.  I think I’d call it pizza if it had one or two more ingredients on it, but this simple pizza-like flatbread was just brushed with olive oil, sprinkled with Spanish Roasted Black Olive Sea Salt (which you can find, of course, at Savory Spice Shop), some sliced olives (I got a mixed container of olives from the olive bar at Whole Foods), and some grated parmesan cheese.
So, maybe it’s a flatbread.  But, I used a pizza crust recipe…. hmmm… 
For my crust:
In a large pyrex measuring cup, mix 1 1/3 cup warm water, 1 TB yeast, and a spoon full of sugar.  Let this dissolve and sit for approximately 10 minutes.  Your yeast should get nice and frothy, which lets you know it is alive.
In your stand mixer with the dough hook attachment, measure out 3 cups unbleached bread flour, 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour, a pinch of sea salt, and some freshly ground black pepper.  Mix this for a few seconds with the dough hook before slowly adding the liquid and a couple tablespoons of olive oil.  Knead this in the mixer, adding a little more flour as needed, for 10 minutes or so until it is a nice, smooth dough ball that isn’t sticky.
Then cover the bowl- I usually put wax paper over the bowl and then cover that with a dish towel.  Place the bowl in a warm area (not a hot oven) to double in size over the next hour or so.  Then, punch it down and start rolling out crusts, or flatbreads.
I like baking my pizzas and flatbreads on a baking stone in a 425 degree oven.  They cook in no time. Enjoy!

Pizza Four Ways

Why make one large pizza when you can make four small pizzas? Mix it up a little…
The four I made, from left to right, are:
  • Turkey Meat Sauce and Green Pepper
  • Shrimp with Roasted Garlic Oil and Green Pepper
  • Caramelized Onion, Apple, and Blue Cheese
  • Roasted Garlic
For all of these, I followed my Pizza Dough recipe, in which I altered the flour content in following way: 2 cups unbleached white flour, 1.5 cups whole wheat flour. Also, I rolled each crust super thin and baked them at 425 on a pizza stone for approximately 5 minutes each. They will take more time if they are not incredibly thin, so be mindful of that.
I had some leftover Turkey Meat Sauce (which was actually chopped meatballs in sauce from my Turkey Meatballs in Homemade Sauce recipe) , so I spread that on some dough with sliced green pepper.

I roasted garlic for my Roasted garlic flatbread-style pizza, and used the oil as a base for the shrimp pizza. I spread some oil, put on some chunks of shrimp, green pepper, salt, and pepper.

My favorite pizza of the four was the caramelized onion, apple, blue cheese combination. This needs to be planned out a bit because it can take 30 minutes or so to slowly caramelize onions. I spread them out on the crust, covered the pizza in apple slices, and then some Oregon blue cheese crumbles. Delicious. If you aren’t familiar with caramelizing onions, the first part of my Caramelized Onion Butter recipe can explain that.
My roasted garlic flatbread is really simple. Just add some roasted garlic and its oil to the rolled out dough. Salt and pepper, bake, and dive right in. If you want to review roasting garlic, follow my recipe for Roasted Garlic Spread, but skip the part where you make it a spread. Or, make a roasted garlic spread… whichever way you prefer.

Pizza with Roasted Pepper and Garlic, Sun-dried Tomatoes, and Sautéed Vinaigrette Onions

I am cutting back a bit on my whole wheat craze by using less whole wheat flour and more unbleached all purpose flour in my baking. To be honest, the difference is noticeable.
For this pizza, I altered my Whole Wheat Pizza Crust recipe just a little and I think I prefer it this way. Click on my whole wheat pizza crust link to follow the recipe. I made the following change with the flour: 2 cups unbleached white flour, 1.5 cups whole wheat flour.

Here are my toppings:
  • roasted red pepper
  • sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil
  • roasted yellow tomatoes
  • roasted garlic
  • 1 cipollini onion, sliced into slivers, sauteed in olive oil until golden and then tossed in a little balsamic vinegar
  • fresh mozzarella cheese
And, of course, freshly grated parmesan and wine (I had an Oregon Pinot Noir).
Enjoy.

Parmesan Stuffed Crust Pizza

When I rolled out my pizza dough, I realized there was way more dough than I usually use for one pizza. So, I rolled it thin and decided to stuff the crust with heaping spoonfuls of shredded parmesan cheese.
Follow my recipe for whole wheat pizza dough. I added some dehydrated shallots to the dough this time, just to make it a little different. When the dough is done, roll it out, put shredded parmesan cheese all around the edge (about an inch in from the edge) and roll the crust over the cheese, tucking it in all around the edges. Brush with olive oil, and add toppings. I used caramelized onions, roasted red peppers (from a jar), artichoke hearts, roasted garlic, sun dried tomatoes, and feta cheese.
Bake at 425 for 10-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of your crust. Check after 7 minutes or so and lower the temp a little if it is getting too brown yet seems soggy in the middle. Enjoy.
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