If you’re in the mood for something sweet AND savory, you’ll have to check this out! Sticky sweet Figs and savory Parmesan and goat cheese on herbed flatbread . Add a sprinkle of fresh arugula and a splash of balsamic and honey and it’s a flavor party in your mouth!
Somewhere in Italy my Italian friends are rolling their eyes at me, and somewhere in America my friend Holly is giving me a high five…why? Because I just made a pizza (o.k. technically a flatbread) and put honey on it!
Holly grew up in Colorado and I lived there for a bit. There’s a famous place there called Beau Jo’s Pizza. No ski trip to the mountains was complete without a stop at Beau Jo’s on the way back home. They make something called the “Mountain Pie”, which is essentially a behemoth mound of dough flavored with honey (the “pie”) piled high (the “mountain”) with your selected toppings. On every table is a squeeze bottle of honey, it’s there so that you can cover your left over crust in honey for dessert. Kind of brilliant! Mounds of fresh toppings for dinner, and the warm soft crust covered in honey for dessert. Some call it “Colorado Style Pizza” …I just call it delicious!
Honey on Pizza is NOT something the Italians or at least our “tour guides” embraced (yet?) . She came and traveled with me and another friend one summer as we made our way around southern Italy.
I remember it vividly, we were seated at an outside Pizzeria in Palermo, our gracious “tour guides” (a.k.a, 2 incredibly handsome Italian men who volunteered to schlep us three Americans around town and show us the sites of Palermo) had picked the place. It was right next to the sea and the breeze was blowing warm. We ordered pizza and Holly asked for some honey. A little bit of a “lost in translation “ moment happened as the “tour guides” looked at one another to see if they really understood what she was asking for. A quick consultation with the English-Italian dictionary and us pointing to the word “miele” and their amused faces as they realized they had in fact heard her correctly. Trying to get “miele” in an Italian pizzeria was a whole other issue.
The long and short of it is, she bought some “miele” at the market and kept it in her purse for the duration of the trip, way easier!
When I was at the International Food Bloggers conference a few weeks ago, I attended a session hosted by Krusteaz. Krusteaz specializes in all kinds of mixes, like pancakes, cornbread, bread (even gluten-free) muffins, and their new flatbread mixes. The session focused on how to create what they call “speed-scratch” recipes. Using the mixes as a base and coming up with creative entertaining ideas. They were gracious in giving us all some samples to try. I scored a gluten free brownie mix and one of their new Italian herbed flatbread mixes.
I decided to give the Flat Bread mix a try. Super easy! You can shape the dough into many different shapes (oval, round etc.) and they give you the bake time for each shape. I can see how keeping a box or two of this in the pantry could come in handy. For those nights when you just don’t know what to make for dinner or when you have impromptu guests, you could whip up a quick flatbread. So many options for toppings! I’m using goat cheese, figs and arugula (and a bit of Parmesan) but you could easily use a variety of sauces (like pesto, tomato, or pasta sauce) or even just olive oil. Top with any kind of fresh veggies (or even canned or frozen) , cheeses, meats, there are so many options!
Since the mix made two flatbreads, I opted to top the second one with ripe red Anjou pears, goat cheese and arugula. ( see the options are endless!)
My original plan was to finish off the cooked flatbreads with a balsamic honey reduction sauce (which I did) but when I saw the honey bottle just sitting there on the counter I couldn’t resist getting a spoon and drizzling a little over the whole thing. Colorado style.
- 1 box Krusteaz Italian herb Flatbread mix ( available in most major grocery stores or your favorite pizza dough)
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- ¼ cup soft goat cheese
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- 6-8 small figs, sliced
- ½ cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 1 cup fresh arugula
- Preheat oven to 475 F. Lightly grease baking sheets.
- Prepare the flatbread dough according to box directions (or use fresh or frozen pizza dough). Form dough into desired shapes (oval, round etc).
- Brush dough with olive oil. Spread a layer of goat cheese over dough (I used very soft goat cheese and it was possible to spread evenly. If your goat cheese is more firm, slice off pieces and place them on the dough). Sprinkle a layer of Parmesan cheese on flatbread and top with sliced figs. Bake for 7-10 min. or until edges are golden brown and figs slightly caramelized.
- While the flatbread is cooking, prepare the balsamic reduction sauce. Add balsamic vinegar and honey to a small saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer until liquid has reduced by half. (about 7-10 min.)
- When flatbread is completely cooked, remove from oven. Top with fresh arugula and a drizzle of balsamic reductions sauce. Optional: add a drizzle of honey.
Lisa
December 14, 2015 at 6:17 pmOh sweet Jesus I am making this bad boy
Lisa
October 29, 2014 at 2:32 pmOmg I am all over this one