I decided to be ambitious for dinner today. I was feeling ambitious and I wanted to experiment and make something that looks fancy. To help save time so I wouldn’t have to do all the work at the end of the day, I
- pre-roasted the vegetable toppings
- eggplant
- zucchini
- hatch chiles
- shredded the manchego cheese
- made the whole wheat flatbread dough
This allowed me to focus on putting everything together easily and efficiently and actually enjoy the meal.
The whole wheat flat bread dough recipe I tried made twice the amount of dough I needed. So I divided it in half and frozen one half for another meal. The dough recipe was a riff on a couple different recipes out on the web.
Whole wheat herb flat bread
2 cups unbleached flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 pkg Active Dry Yeast
1 1/2 cup water
4 tbs Grapeseed oil
1 tbs Agave Nectar
2 tsp salt
2 tbs fresh thyme
2 tbs fresh oregano
2 tbs fresh basil
I use a bread machine to make this more efficient for me. Add ingredients in the order listed. Set bread machine to the dough cycle, and start. My bread machines dough cycle is around 90 minutes. When the dough cycle is completed, divided dough into two even portions. If you aren’t going to use all the dough at once, flour the portion you aren’t going to use and place in a ziptop bag. Remove all the air and seal. Place in the freeze. Divide the remaining portion of dough into two balls, and let rest for an hour before using.
[singlepic id=238 w=320 h=240 float=left]
Topping the flat breads. Really you can top the flat bread with whatever you want. In fact you can make them like a typical pizza if you want. In my case I was topping my flat breads with cheese and tasty vegetables. I ended up making two flat breads. One for myself and one for my spouse.
My flat bread
Spread mixture of goat cheese and shredded manchego cheese on the dough. Add roasted diced eggplant, zucchini, and hatch chiles. Add sliced mushrooms and sprinkled with shredded manchego cheese.
Flat bread for spouse
Spread mixture of goat cheese and shredded manchego cheese on the dough. Add sliced mushrooms, tomatoes, and roasted hatch chiles. Sprinkle with shredded manchego cheese.
Probably the biggest challenge with making grilled flat bread is ensuring that they don’t get destroyed by sticking to the grill. How do I deal with this?
- Make sure your grill isn’t set too high. You aren’t searing meat people. I’d recommend you set the grill the way you would for barbecue which corresponds to about 350 degrees
- Make sure the grill grate is well oiled. Take the wire brush and remove excess stuff on the grill. Then take an oil soaked paper towel and brush it over the grill grate using tongs so the grate is well oiled. Using grill spray doesn’t IMHO work. It dissipates to quickly and I’ve actually seen someone start a grease fire spraying it on their grill.
- Use a BIG spatula to get things loose. It is foolish to think you’re going to pick your flat bread up with tongs. Even if you’re trying to flip it without any toppings on it. Don’t attempt it you’ll be sorry. I have a nice big spatula that I try to shape my dough to. This way I can stick the spatula under the flat bread and easily move it from the grill to a serving plate.
The final product was simply scrumptious. Spicy, hearty, juicy, cheesy. All yum as far as I was concerned. Downside was spouse is not a fan of goat cheese. OK, ricotta for you next time. That and a mix of mozzarella and Parmesan on top.