flatbread with arugula and chaubier

Growing up in a family of seven, it’s not unusual that pizza was a staple in my diet as a child. It’s inexpensive, makes great leftovers, always feeds a crowd, and most importantly, everyone likes it. My mother made pizza from scratch (we had a lot of scratch in our house) nearly every Saturday night as my four siblings and I danced around singing “The Pizza Party Song.” A bit of our excitement was due to the fact that Saturday was the only day we were permitted drink soda and we were already on a sugar high.  But honestly, we just loved eating pizza.  It’s one of the food memories from my childhood that still influences me today.  I still count pizza as one of my favorite foods, and eat some version of it at least once a week.  I often play around with dough, sauce, toppings and baking techniques.   Thankfully, I married a man who also loves pizza and doesn’t mind indulging my weekly craving.

So after all this talk about pizza, I’m actually calling this version a flatbread for a couple of reasons. It hasn’t got any sauce and it doesn’t seem much like the Italian-style pies that we Americans are used to eating. The peppery arugula, sweet red onions, oven-roasted cherry tomatoes, and pungent Chaubier piled atop a piece of dough almost feel more like a tartine than a pizza, but neither title feels right.   The term flatbread is slightly ambiguous, since it is tossed around in both upscale restaurants and fast food chains alike, but seems like an appropriate description here.

Ingredients

1-2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 package active dry yeast
½ cup warm water
1 T sugar or honey
1 T olive or canola oil
1 t salt
2 cups arugula
1 large onion, sliced and caramelized (saute on low heat in 1-2 T olive oil and 1 tsp brown sugar for 20-30 minutes until soft and slightly sweet)
1-2 cups oven-roasted cherry tomatoes (toss with olive oil, salt and pepper, and roast at 400 degrees until bursting, about 20 minutes)
Chaubier cheese *see note
Olive oil for drizzling

Directions

1. Add the yeast to the warm water in a small bowl, stir and allow yeast to activate, about 5-10 minutes. In your food processor or stand mixer equipped with a dough hook, combine the flours, salt, oil and sugar. When the yeast is foamy, turn the stand mixer/processor on and dribble in the yeast/water mixture until the dough follows itself around. Let the machine knead it or take it out and knead it yourself on a floury surface. Add flour as necessary and knead about 5 minutes until the dough is no longer sticking to your fingers.  Place the dough in a oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise in a warm spot in the oven until it is doubled in bulk, 1-1 1/2 hrs. Punch it down and let is rise until it is double in bulk again. After the second rise, take out the dough and form it into whatever shape you like – rectangular, round, oval. Sprinkle cornmeal on your baking sheet and place the dough on top.

2. While your dough is rising, caramelize the onions, roast the tomatoes, and slice your cheese. Wilt the arugula at the very last stage of onion caramelization.

3. Arrange the toppings on the flatbread. Using a pastry brush, brush the edges with olive oil, and drizzle on top as desired. Bake at 450 until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is melted.

*One of the reasons I am a vegetarian and not a vegan is cheese. I have a weakness for it, and I have cultivated a love for cheeses of all kinds.  This Chaubier is a blend of goat and cow’s milk, and while it is a “stinky” cheese, it is mild and smooth, and is so so so good. Did I mention I like it? If you don’t want to spend a little extra on a Chaubier, try another goat cheese or really, anything you like, as long as it’s got a good strong flavor to stand up to the arugula.