I made this delicious flatbread for a wedding shower recently. The great thing about flatbread is that you can put anything you want on top of it. I loved this combo. I even made a gluten free version using the Cup4Cup brand pizza dough. That was a big hit as well, even with those that didn't need to eat gluten free.
I purchased pizza dough for this in the deli section of the grocery store just to cut down on my time. Pizza dough is very simple to make though. You can find a simple recipe online and use the quick rising yeast so that you don't have to wait too long for it. I haven't tried the canned pizza dough, but it would probably work as well. The idea here is to keep it all simple, don't use too many ingredients and keep the flavors bold and delicious!
Some other flavor combos that would be yummy:
- Goat cheese with fresh snipped herbs, roasted red pepper and artichoke hearts
- Whipped ricotta with roasted cherry tomatoes, arugula and shaved Parmesan
- Gorgonzola with thinly sliced steak, red onion and thyme
Ingredients
1 store bought Pizza dough
1 1/2 cups shredded Smoked Gouda
10 Kalamata olives cut in half
3 Onions, sliced
3 sprigs fresh Rosemary
2 Tsp fresh Thyme
2 cups Balsamic Vinegar
Olive Oil
Salt
Instructions
You need to start by caramelizing your onions. Place the onions in a warm pan over medium heat with a little bit of olive oil. Season with salt. Let the onions slowly cook and caramelize. Stir every once in a while so they don't stick to the bottom of the pan. First you will see the water evaporate, then the onions will start to turn brown. If they start to burn, turn down the heat a little and add a small amount of water to the pan. The idea behind caramelized onions is slow over low heat. This could take up to 45 minutes depending on how caramelized you want them to be. If you don't have a lot of time do it for 20 minutes and call it a day.
While the onions are cooking you want to reduce down your vinegar. Place the balsamic vinegar in a saucepan over medium high heat and let it boil and reduce down by about half, until it gets thicker like a syrup.
Preheat your oven to 425 degree.
Once your ingredients are all prepped you want to pre-bake your dough. On a floured surface start to stretch out your pizza dough either by hand or with a rolling pin. I like to make a rectangular shape when baking a flatbread. Make the rectangle as large as you want, but don't stretch the dough too thin or it won't hold the weight of your ingredients.
Place the stretched dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Brush some olive oil on the dough and sprinkle with salt. Place in the oven for about 10 minutes or until it just starts to turn golden.
Remove the dough from the oven and top with your caramelized onions, the leaves from the fresh thyme and rosemary, your smoked Gouda, and olives.
Place the flatbread back in the oven for 5-10 minutes until cooked through. The Gouda doesn't melt a lot, so don't expect gooey cheese.
Let the flatbread cool for a minute before cutting into squares.
Once cut, drizzle with your vinegar reduction and garnish with more rosemary.