Pickpocketing, procrastinating, and a picture perfect flatbread

Before I start this post, I want to say thank you to all of my readers. It's hard work posting into the abyss, and at times one tends to wonder whether any part of what they say is actually making a difference to anyone, so your comments and messages really make me feel like there's purpose to my blog. 

Also, I'm sorry for not posting for a while now...My phone got pickpocketed two weekends ago, which was when I was scheduled to cook, so instead of making this flatbread, I ended up spending those two days searching for my phone, filing a complaint and figuring out what to do next. As for last weekend, that was just me being irresponsible and procrastinating, which ended up causing me to miss my Sunday night post deadline. As you all know, posts always come out on Sundays or Wednesdays, so I figured better now than next weekend, and I will be doing another post to make up for it.

That being said, here's the perfect winter flatbread with some of my favourite ingredients. I made this for a potluck, and it just worked so perfectly. It's inspired by a pizza I ate at a restaurant in Bangalore, and is my winter version (truth be told I kind of lost the main flavours I wanted to highlight, but I found new ones, so this is not based on that pizza so much as it is somewhat inspired by it)

The first part of the recipe is the dough. I made it from scratch, although I did see a premade dough that was available at the supermarket. One thing I kind of missed, which wasn't available at the market either, was a bit of sourdough starter. Sourdough flatbreads just hit differently, but not to worry, this recipe is a good alternative. I managed to find some (relatively) cheap 00 flour (It isn't whole wheat like the one I use at home, but I am a college student now, so I don't really have the budget for that). Again, the recipe will be below, but a few considerations. Firstly, if you do end up using whole wheat flour, reduce the amount of flour you use, otherwise the dough will be too hard. Secondly, yes...the dough is supposed to be that sticky. That's why we oil the counter and the bowl so much. Without the oil, it's sticky, but if it's just barely sticky once coated in oil, congratulations! You have a good dough. Thirdly, rest it for as long as you can (just not more than like 18 hours if possible) but make sure the towel on top is damp. This is something I didn't do for the first few hours, and it definitely would've helped. Last, but not least, see if you can get a rectangular baking tray. Flatbreads should be rectangular, and I only made mine circular because I didn't have a rectangular baking sheet...but you should try to get one for sure.

Now come the toppings. The main one I picked was the butternut squash. That is one full medium-large butternut squash on the flatbread. The squash is tossed in a bit of oil, salt and pepper...THAT'S IT. More spices and flavours can come later, but for now, the squash is going to take a while to cook and in that time most herbs and spices would burn. The squash goes on the raw dough and cooks in the oven, OR it can be cooked separately on another tray and then added on top of the flatbread once both are a little more cooked. Upside of cooking them together: the dough is chewier. Downside of cooking them together: the dough can become soggy, depending on how much water the squash lets out.

For the mushrooms, I just kinda cooked them with some herbs (oregano, basil and dried thyme) on a hot pan, and then put them to the side. The onions were caramelised, which I thought tasted really good...but again, nothing major. As for the salad leaves (a mix of baby spinach, rocket and baby lettuce), I tossed them with the same salt and pepper, and then poured a good mix of lemon juice, oil and balsamic vinegar over. Not really much to think about here, the flavours just kinda work. Oh, also, with the cheese, I used a mix of shredded parmesan, asiago, fontina, provolone and mozzarella.

I mean, there's not really much else to say about the flatbread, it's pretty simple. If you want some protein, chicken is a good option here, but I didn't add any to mine. That being said, I deliberately kept this recipe pretty basic to get a good sense of the flavours of these ingredients. It's important to not lose the sweetness of the squash, the umami flavour of the mushrooms or the sourness of the salad dressing. Every element matters.

Flatbread

This recipe makes 2 medium flatbreads, and is enough for me and 2 very hungry roommates of mine or about 4-5 normal people.

For the dough

500g 00 flour

300ml water

3g active dry yeast

40ml olive oil plus more as needed

Pinch of salt

Pinch of sugar

Shredded cheeses as needed (I recommend buying a decent 4 cheese mix)

Heat up 50ml of the water until it is lukewarm (about 50-55°C) and mix with a pinch of sugar and the active dry yeast. Leave until yeast is active, about 15 minutes

In a large bowl, mix the flour with the yeast mixture, remaining 250ml water and olive oil. Mix until the dough is just formed.

Tip onto an oiled counter and knead the dough until it is well combined and smooth with no lumps. Coat the insides of the bowl in oil and place the dough back in, covering with a damp, clean cloth

Let the dough rest until it has risen to about 3x its original size

When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 205°C. Slap the top of the dough to deflate and then tip onto a baking tray lined with parchment. Spread over the parchment until it is relatively thin or about 1cm thick. Leave to rest for a further 15 minutes

Bake until golden and crunchy on the outside, about 45 minutes. When 30 minutes have passed, remove from the oven, cover in shredded cheeses and put back in.

For the toppings

1 butternut squash

Salt

Pepper

150g button mushrooms

Italian seasoning as needed

1 white onion

10g brown sugar

100g salad mix/arugula if possible

Balsamic Vinegar

Lemon Juice

Olive Oil

1. Cut the butternut squash into two long halves vertically. Remove the seeds. Then, cut into 1-inch thick semicircular pieces
2. Toss in a bowl with salt, pepper and oil
3. Bake in an oven at 205°C for about 45 minutes (Approximately the same amount of time as the pizza, so you can bake them in the same oven)
4. In a hot pan, cook button mushrooms with oil and salt. When browned, add some dried oregano, basil and thyme. Put the cooked mushrooms in a small bowl on the side
5. In the same pan, add a bit more oil. Slice onions into thin strips and put into the pan with the oil. Heat on medium-high heat, stirring intermittently to make sure the onions don't burn. Once they begin to turn brown, add brown sugar and continue to cook until you achieve a strong caramel colour. Place to side
6. In a bowl, toss salad leaves with lemon juice, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. 
7. When the pizza is done, top with butternut squash, mushrooms, onions and finally salad. Optionally, bake for an additional 3-4 minutes to soften the leaves (I don't like to do this as I like the crunch of the fresh leaves, but this is an option for sure.)

And yes! That's the recipe! It's actually pretty easy, and aside from the oiled counter, doesn't actually make much of a mess. There's a lot that can be done to elevate this and make it more complex, most of which I didn't do because I just couldn't be bothered to go back to the supermarket, but one idea would be to use blue cheese on top or even make a blue cheese dressing, which would go very well with all of the flavours.

ANYWAY, I'd love to see what you guys do with the recipe...dm me with what you make, I'd love to get new ideas for what to do with this to make it better!