Roasted Vegetable Flatbread

Meatless Monday!

This is by far my favorite pizza/ flatbread recipe.  I have made this flatbread with a variety of toppings, but almost always with olive oil and garlic in place of sauce on the crust.  I do like a good red sauce, but only on a thicker crusted pizza. When making a flatbread  I like it on the crispy side, and the olive oil helps make it that way.  For the dough you could certainly use a store -bought,  frozen one, but this one turns out so great!  If you have the time it is well worth it! This time I roasted an entire head of garlic and mixed it with olive oil and salt and pepper to make a tasty, pasty sauce... it sent the flavor over the top!  If you've never roasted garlic, you need to try it!  It makes it sweet and mild and perfectly delicious for sauces, and spreads.  One of my favorite uses is roasted garlic mayonnaise.  I also roasted the tomatoes to draw out some of the moisture (nobody likes a soggy pie!), and to bring out the sweetness and flavor of them.  I roasted the zucchini and mushrooms to slightly soften them, and roasting brings out their flavor as well.  Toward the end of roasting them I added the spinach to wilt it down.   For the cheese I chose Fontina this time, because it's creamy, mild, and it melts like a dream!  It oozes over the vegetables and creates this perfect little marriage of semi- crisp veggies and creamy, dreamy cheese.  You could, of course, use whatever cheese or combination of cheeses that you like.  As for the herbs I went with fresh oregano and thyme because they are growing rampant in my garden already, and if my garden had basil I would have added some freshly torn on the flatbread after it came out of the oven.  Rosemary and parsley would be great as well.  But I am a slave to my resources... Come June I'll have every herb under the sun!  I am constantly tweaking my pie recipes, and they seem to just keep getting better, so here is my latest...

Flatbread dough:

1 1/2 c. warm water (not too hot or it will kill the yeast)
1/2 tsp.  Active, dry yeast
1/2 tsp. Honey
4 c. Flour ( I used 2 c. white whole wheat and 2 c. unbleached white)
1 tsp. Salt
2 T. Olive oil

Gently stir together the yeast and sugar in the warm water, and let stand still to proof for about 5 minutes.
Then slowly add in 2 cups of the flour, stirring to combine.  Cover, and keep in a warm place ( room temperature is best, but to speed the process you can place in a slightly warmed oven)  until it's bubbling on top and rising slightly.  Slowly stir in the remaining flour.  At this point you could use a stand mixer, but I much prefer the tools that God gave me.  Using my hands I can more accurately gauge the amount of flour that I need to add,  and it's simply therapeutic if you ask me!  Squeezing and kneading the dough is a wonderful stress release.  And when you finally get that perfect pliable, supple ball of dough... it is exhilarating!!!  You may need a little more or less than 2 additional cups, so make sure to completely knead each little bit before adding more.  Knead for about 15 minutes by hand and a bit less if using a machine.  You will want the dough soft and pliable to touch. 

Lightly oil a large bowl and turn the dough in it to coat with the oil.  Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, roughly an hour.  Once risen turn the dough out onto a floured surface. 

Cut the dough in half, and shape into two slightly flattened out balls. Let set until ready to roll out.

Flatbread toppings:.

1 Garlic head/ whole
1/4 c. Olive oil
Salt and pepper

5 Roma tomatoes, sliced 1/2 inch thick
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

1 lg. Zucchini/ sliced 1/4 inch thick
9 oz. Mushrooms/ sliced 1/4 inch thick
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
3 c.  Fresh spinach

2 T. Capers
2 T. Oregano/ chopped/ fresh
1 T. Thyme/ chopped/ fresh
9 oz. Fontina cheese/shredded

Now, I didn't cut the head off of my garlic before roasting , though many recipes tell you to, I left mine intact, nor did I add any olive oil.  I left my clove untouched... I wrapped it in foil, and roasted it right alongside my tomatoes, and zucchini and mushrooms. 

I roasted all of them at 350 degrees.  For the garlic I roasted it for about an hour.  When I pulled it out I hacked off the shoot end/top, and squeezed the roasted garlicky goodness into a bowl.  You'll want to let it cool a bit, so as to squeeze every ounce of garlic out without singeing a digit. 

Once all squeezed add the 1/4 c. olive oil,  and a pinch of salt and pepper.  Whisk vigorously to combine... you may need to add a little more olive oil to cover two flatbreads.  The key here is to let the garlic infused oil set for a few minutes to allow the garlic to permeate the oil.  Set this aside until ready to use.

Meanwhile, Lay the sliced tomatoes on an olive oiled baking sheet.  Turn to coat, and season with salt and pepper.  Roast in the 350 degree oven for about 50 minutes... untouched!  Just ten minutes less than the garlic.

At the same time you'll want to roast the sliced zucchini and mushrooms in a roasting pan.  Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. 

Roast for about 30- 35 minutes, stirring a couple of times.  Add the spinach when the zucchini and mushrooms are slightly softened.  Stir to combine.

When the spinach is wilted set aside until ready to layer on the flatbread.

Assembly:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Place the oven racks in the center- most positions of the oven, and place your stones/ pans on them to preheat as well.  I used one pizza stone, and one pizza pan with holes all over the bottom.  I actually liked the pizza on the pan better than the one on the stone.  It turned out a little crisper, but the pan is also bigger, so the dough was stretched a little thinner.  Sometimes I use stoneware baking sheets and roll them into rough ovals so they look more rustic.  Use whatever works for you!  On a lightly floured surface roll your dough out to fit your pans/ stones.  A trick to transferring the dough from the work surface is to carefully roll the dough over the rolling pin, and then unwinding onto the pan.  It works like a charm!

Next, I slathered on the roasted garlic olive oil with a pastry brush. 

I then layered the zuchhini, mushroom, and spinach mixture on, taking care to spread the ingredients somewhat evenly.  Then, I placed the tomatoes on.  After that I sprinkled on the herbs and capers. 

I had a little helper!  Joshua loves to watch Mama work!

Finally, I sprinkled on the cheese! 

Bake for roughly 17-23 minutes.  Rotating from top to bottom, and bottom to top half way through baking.  Time will vary depending on the pans/ stones you use, so it's best to keep a close eye on them toward the end.  The end product should look something like this.

This tastes so fresh, and delicious!  The roasted garlic on the crust is absolutely divine!  I took care to slather it over the outer edge of the crust. This way... even after the delicious creamy Fontina over the flavor popping veggies are eaten up, I look forward to the crispy, garlicky crust.  Enjoy!