May 24, 2011

Herbalicious flatbread

I have a fabulous problem: every time I see my mom, she loads me up with herbs that she buys in huge bundles from New Seasons. They are wonderfully fresh, aromatic, and liven up everything I put them in. This is great for many reasons, including the fact that every herb (or plant for that matter) that I am given or that I buy, ends up dying. While my neighbors apparently cannot control their rosemary bushes that are growing like weeds, I spent almost a year trying to nurse my little potted sprig back to life, before finally giving up when winter hit.


The constant supply of herbs from my mother is only a problem because the over-abundance can, sadly, lead to some herb fatalities. For example, I discovered a handful of brown and withering thyme in the back of the refrigerator. So, today was the day I decided that I must use up the herbs.


I wanted something fresh tasting, but also something that really show-cased the herbs and wouldn't over-power them (such as if I had followed my husband's suggestion of caramelized onions). I was thinking flatbread, but who wants to deal with all the kneading, rising, pounding down, and being patient? I didn't quite want a pizza, either, so I decided to use a savory tart crust that I could incorporate herbs into, and then just lay it out flat like a pizza. I am quite happy with the results.



Herbalicious flatbread
The tart crust recipe is this one from Chocolate and Zucchini, but I substituted the dried herbs for about 2 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary. Yum. Also, all the steps aren't necessary if you are just making a rustic flatbread. After you have incorporated the water and oil and kneaded the dough a couple times in the bowl, simply turn it onto the greased baking sheet and roll it out to desired thickness on the sheet. Then proceed with the following:

1 tbsp olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp fresh sage, chopped
3 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
8 turns of the salt mill
6 turns of the pepper mill
2 tomatoes on the vine, sliced
about 1 1/4 cups asiago, grated
parmesan for sprinkling

To assemble: coat the dough with the oil. Then spread the minced garlic, half the sage, and half the oregano over the dough. Evenly cover with salt and pepper. Spread tomatoes over dough in one layer, sprinkle with asiago cheese and the remaining herbs. Bake at 400 for about 20-30 minutes (until browning around outer edge of the flatbread). Sprinkle with parmesan. Enjoy.


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