The Anniversary Dinner (Mediterranean Flatbread Pizza)

Yesterday marked the 4-year anniversary of Steve and I dating...and yes, it landed on Friday the 13th!  Thankfully, we're not superstitious, and were both feeling quite lucky anyhow.  We both wanted to make something special for dinner, while staying in our budget and not letting cooking take too much time away from our evening together.  I reminded him of a flatbread pizza I'd made not so long ago, which he though sounded great!  He came through with the idea for grilled lamb kebabs to go with.  Add a nice cabernet, and we were set!

Steve marinated the lamb in balsamic vinegar, herbs, and olive oil and skewered it up with red onion slices.  Meanwhile, I made the pizza, which, as I said, I made once before, and have been meaning to post here ever since.

It all started when I found this recipe for "crisp rosemary flatbread" over at Smitten Kitchen.  I made it, and it was an instant favorite.  So a week or so later, I made it again, and Steve made a feta dip to go with it.  Then, a few weeks after that, we grilled some chicken breasts stuffed with goat cheese, and had leftovers.  The idea came to me to make the flatbread and top it with the chicken and some veggies.  It was a big hit!

Now, I realize that it's summertime, and it's been especially hot and humid this past week in Chi-town.  This is the first time in years I've lived somewhere with central A/C, so having the oven on isn't such a big deal to me.  But if it is to you, I'm betting you could make this on the grill.  I used my cast iron griddle to bake the flatbreads... it cooks so evenly and is naturally non-stick! If you have one, you could probably place it right on the grill if that's your preferred method of cooking.  My only concern is that when making the flatbreads themselves, the temperature needs to be pretty high... if anyone tries making this on the grill, let me know how it goes!

First you need to make the flatbread.  It's very crisp and thin, like a cracker.  If you've ever had lavosh, this is similar to that.  The original recipe from Smitten Kitchen is just for the bread, which is great on it's own, but for the pizza, I shortened the baking time to make up for the extra time it spends in the oven once the toppings are on it.

Mediterranean Flatbread Pizza

---makes 3 pizzas---

ROSEMARY CRACKER FLATBREAD

(adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/3 cup olive oil (plus extra for brushing)
• Flaky sea salt

1. Preheat oven 450°F with a heavy baking sheet (such as a cast-iron griddle) on the middle rack.

2. Mix together flour, rosemary, baking powder and salt in a medium mixing bowl.  Blend in water and olive oil until a dough forms.  

3.  Turn the dough out onto a floured surface.  Knead gently a few times, then divide the dough into three equal portions.  Form each portion into a ball.

4.  One by one, roll out the dough pieces until very thin.  Each piece should make about a 10" round (but don't worry about the uneven shape... I think it's very attractive for this kind of flatbread!)  Brush the first piece with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.  Place on the preheated baking sheet and return to the oven.  Bake until nearly crisp, 6-8 minutes.  Repeat with the other two flatbreads.

MEDITERRANEAN FLATBREAD PIZZAS

• 3 rosemary cracker flatbreads (from recipe above)
• 1 large red pepper, seeds and pulp removed and sliced into long, thin pieces
• 3 medium roma tomatoes, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup sliced kalamata olives
• 3 Tbsp fresh rosemary leaves
• 4 oz (or more) goat cheese, crumbled
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, coarsely shredded
• 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/8 cup fresh basil leaves
• 3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Place one flatbread on a heavy baking sheet.  Evenly top with a third of the red pepper slices, tomato slices, kalamata olives, rosemary, and cheeses.  Drizzle with a tablespoon of olive oil.  

2.  Bake flatbread pizza for 8-10 minutes, or until veggies are nicely softened, cheese is melted, and flatbread is golden brown around the edges.  Let cool slightly on a wire rack.  Repeat steps 1 and 2 with other two flatbreads.

3.  Top finished pizzas with fresh basil and balsamic vinegar.  Slice and enjoy!

(Note: the two photos after the jump show the original pizzas I made a while ago, which have slices of goat cheese-stuffed chicken breast instead of just goat cheese.)

We enjoyed our anniversary dinner with a bottle of Souverain Alexander Valley 2005 Cabernet.  And for dessert?  I baked up a batch of brownie bites...Chocolate chip brownie bites topped with Himalayan pink salt crystals, to be exact!

Thanks for four amazing years of love, fun, and food, Steve!  Here's to many, many more!  ^_^