Flatbread Salad Wrap Thingy
I need help. Usually I turn to Facebook or Twitter when I need sound advice, but this time I’m shouting out to all of bloggerdom.
Is this a pizza? A flatbread? A salad-wrap? What would you call this thing?
While you’re here I need more help. What’s the difference between pizza and flatbread? It seems that pizza joints are suddenly advertising “artisan flatbreads,” which look just like pizza. Except they have fancier toppings. Or baked on foccacia.
How many toppings can a flatbread have before it crosses the line to pizza?
Do the toppings even matter?
Is it the lack of sauce that makes it a flatbread?
The thickness of the crust?
Is the pizza joint trying to be pretentious?
Is pizza going through a mid-life crisis?
As you can see, I have serious concerns plaguing my mind.
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| Toppings: Garlic-infused olive oil, fresh basil, mozzarella, goat cheese. |
So, making this pizza-flatbread-salad-wrap-thingy has done two things for me.
1. It has satisfied my never-ending craving for pizza without my passing out on the couch afterwards. Because the crust is so thin, you eat less crust. And you use fewer toppings in order to preserve its crispness. And the addition of a vinaigrette-dressed salad encased in the pizza makes it even lighter.
2. I have finally figured out how to make a non-soggy thin-crust pizza. Roll that dough as thin. as. you. possibly. can. (Duh, Natalie.) I used my usual method of sliding it (with the parchment underneath) into a 450 degree oven onto a screamin’-hot inverted cookie sheet.
This crust was crispy on the edges and chewy toward the center. I think if you used white flour in the crust it would make it even more crispy. Not worth doing every time, though.
The more salad you put on this the less it will seem like a pizza. That’s what I told myself.
We ate this twice in one week. (Mostly because I had leftover pizza dough in the fridge, which I don’t normally have.) One batch of pizza dough will feed us three times this way!
My husband is the one who thought of wrapping the pizza around the salad.
Did I ever tell you I married him for his brains?
And gigantic brown eyes.
Plus he pretty much lets me do what I want.
Basil & Goat Cheese Flatbread Wrap
Total Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
whole wheat pizza dough (enough for 1 large pizza)
1/2 cup olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic, finely grated (with a Microplane grater) or minced
2 cups fresh basil leaves (about 1 bunch)
2 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup goat cheese crumblesFor the salad:
10-14 ounces of salad greens (spring mix, arugula, baby spinach etc.)
3 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 T extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Fresh Parmesan or Pecorino-Romano shavings (for garnish)Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F and place an inverted cookie sheet into the oven. Place 1/2 cup olive oil in a small bowl with the finely grated garlic. Stir and set aside.
Divide the dough into 4 or 6 balls, depending on how large you want your pizzas. Roll each ball out on a lightly floured piece of parchment paper as thin as you can. (See photos within blog post.) Brush the dough lightly with the garlic oil. Top with some basil leaves, mozzarella, and goat cheese. (Dividing toppings among the flatbreads.)
If your flatbread is small enough you can probably pick up the parchment and place it on the hot cookie sheet in the oven. If it's too large, slide the parchment onto another (cool) inverted cookie sheet, and then slide it into the hot oven.
Bake for about 10-12 minutes, or until the edges of the crust begin to turn medium brown and crisp and the cheese is bubbly and golden in spots.
Remove from the oven and let it sit for about 3-4 minutes before slicing.
To make the salad, place the salad greens in a large bowl. Drizzle with lemon juice, olive oil and a pinch or two of salt and pepper. Use your hands to mix the salad thoroughly (it's more fun that way). Place a handful of salad on to each warm flatbread. Slice and eat or wrap the flatbread around the salad and eat it like a wrap.
Makes 4-6 flatbread wraps.
Nat's Notes:
1. Feel free to play with the toppings as you like, but keep them light so the crust doesn't get soggy. I'd avoid using marinara sauce unless you use a very scant amount. Pesto would be a great alternative to the garlic oil.from Perry's Plate
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Lauren's Latest — September 16, 2011 @ 10:18 pm
I vote flatbread wrap. Adding goat cheese was a smart move.
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Natalie @ Perry's Plate — September 16, 2011 @ 10:24 pm
You win, Lauren. :)
Pizza salad wrap just doesn't roll off the tongue well. Can you just name all of my Frankenstein creations? Thx. xoxo
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Joanne — September 17, 2011 @ 12:08 am
Haha I agree with Lauren. Flatbread wrap has such a nice ring to it anyway!
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{Epicurean Mom} — September 17, 2011 @ 1:45 am
This is genius! I'm so going to so this! Looks absolutely delicious!
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Megan — September 17, 2011 @ 2:04 am
Yum! That reminds me of a piadine!
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Amanda — September 17, 2011 @ 1:11 pm
so clever!
Amanda
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Laurie @simplyscratch — September 17, 2011 @ 2:04 pm
Flatbread.. YUM! I really love this recipe!
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Natalie — September 17, 2011 @ 2:51 pm
I guess flatbread wins again!! :)
Megan – What's a piadine??
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The Three Little Piglets — September 17, 2011 @ 5:49 pm
Wow! That was a lot of questions to which I know none of the answers. But if someone is kind enough to tell you, please share. I've wondered one or two of the same things myself…
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SweetSavoryPlanet — September 17, 2011 @ 6:45 pm
I made something similar to yours but with purchased flatbread -
http://sweetsavoryplanet.blogspot.com/2011/07/dinner-tonight-fresh-simple-and-on-deck.html
But I had to use a knife and fork to eat it and it was still a bit messy. Totally delicious but messy. So next time I think a flatbread wrap is definitely worth a try! I love how thin your crust is.
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Ann — September 17, 2011 @ 11:20 pm
First off…if I was going to call it anything – I'd call it DELICIOUS! What a great meal! However, of the options you gave us, I'd vote for flat bread. Nicely done!
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Madison Chloe Marie — September 18, 2011 @ 5:27 am
hah That cracks me up… Wrap Thingy, I love your sense of humor, I too love wraps, they help me cut calories too.
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Cara — September 19, 2011 @ 1:09 am
So we have a favorite local pizza place that makes their pizzas soooo thin just like in your picture. I've never seen it anywhere else, AND I've never understood how to do it at home! I need to try this, stat. (So just to be clear, you're using 1/2 recipe of that pizza dough, and then dividing it into 4-6 pieces for individual pizzas, right?)
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Natalie — September 19, 2011 @ 2:32 am
Cara – How fun! Yes. About half the recipe. I say "about" because I made a full batch, and it made about 8 large-ish individual pizzas with some dough leftover. The dough stretches out so much you only need a little bit (like, slightly larger than a golfball) for each pizza.
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SkinnyMommy — September 19, 2011 @ 9:30 pm
I don't know what you would call it but it looks fantastic!
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Maria — September 20, 2011 @ 10:18 pm
I love everything about this wrap! Can't wait to try it!
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Faith — September 21, 2011 @ 12:11 pm
this is brilliant!! I can't wait to try it.
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Mrs. C — September 21, 2011 @ 4:39 pm
Oh this looks delicious and super crispy!!! I cannot wait to try this!! :)
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mjskit — September 26, 2011 @ 7:31 pm
You ask some very good questions! My favorite – Is pizza going through a mid-life crisis? :) I think it is. I have no idea what to call this but I love the thin crust or crispy flat! Great idea! I can easily see eating this twice in one week.
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Janssen — October 9, 2011 @ 3:50 am
I made these tonight and they were SO good. The only way I've been able to choke down arugula :)
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The Double Dipped Life — October 11, 2011 @ 3:22 pm
Natalie, these look fantastic. Not sure if my kids would touch them, but I would! Plus, I have goat cheese on my "List of new things to eat"!
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Natalie — October 11, 2011 @ 3:27 pm
Krista – I love the idea of a "new things to eat" list! I hope you love goat cheese. (I've noticed it's a love or hate thing with most people…)
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Natalie — October 13, 2011 @ 3:37 am
Janssen – I'm glad I'm not the only one who has to "choke down" arugula. Ugh. I finished off a big bag from my CSA in some pesto (not bad actually. Might post it.) Then I got another big bag tonight. Slightly devastating.
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Desiree — November 28, 2012 @ 7:03 pm
This looks amazing!! However, I’m pregnant and ant have goat cheese. What do you think would be a good substitute?
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