Flatbread Pizza

Having several days of vacation calls for some serious sisterly bonding. My sister, Betsy, and I decided to combine our culinary skills (and appetites) to prepare some kick-ass flatbread pizzas.

The pizza on the left contains butternut squash, red onion, garlic, jalapeño, and arugula topped with Gorgonzola cheese. The other pizza is made of pineapple, red onion, sweet peppers, garlic, jalapeño, and mozzarella cheese. Can we say pizza perfection?

   

My sister made the pizza dough using this recipe a couple hours ahead of time to allow the dough to rise. We only used half of the dough, which made two small pizzas--enough food for about three people. We suggest rolling the dough nice and thin--otherwise the term "flatbread" no longer applies. By the way, do you like our makeshift rolling pin? Who says an empty bottle of wine has to be thrown away? Reduce, REUSE, recycle. Love it.

While Betsy was busy rolling the dough, I chopped, sliced, and minced the vegetables and fruit. I rarely cook with jalapeño peppers, but learned (from my lovely sis) that the heat from the peppers comes mainly from the membrane surrounding the seeds. When I minced the peppers, I removed all the seeds and most of the membrane. The minced jalapeño gave both pizzas the perfect amount of heat and helped bring out the flavors of the other vegetables--star ingredient!

                         

For the dough, you will need:

-3 cups flour (unbleached or whole wheat), plus more for dusting a work surface

-Fine sea salt

-1 envelope (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast

-3 tablespoons olive oil

To make the dough, follow the directions shown here.

 For the pizzas, you will need:

-1 cup pizza sauce (we used sauce found at the local grocery store. Any pizza sauce will do.)
-1/2 red onion, sliced
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-1 cup arugula
-3/4 cup steamed butternut squash, diced
-1/3 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
-3 sweet peppers, sliced
-1/3 of a pineapple, sliced
-2 jalapeño peppers, minced
-4 oz. fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into large circles
-salt and pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. After allowing the dough to rise for 2 hours, break off half the dough (the other half can be frozen for up to two months) and the divide the remaining dough in half. Next, roll each ball of dough until quite thin. Coat the dough with pizza sauce and load each pizza with fresh ingredients. Then, top each pizza with cheese, salt, and pepper and cook for 15-20 minutes, or until the cheese begins to brown.



My sister and I were both surprised at how flavorful each pizza tasted. I love the variety of ingredients that one pizza can hold. Be creative and feast your hearts out, loves.

QUICK TIP:

Have you ever hear of Cavender's Greek Seasoning? If not, you need to try it. Thanks to Betsy, (who I believe is obsessed with it) I am now an advocate. We both used it to season our pizzas right before we ate them. Maximum taste, minimal effort.