I love flat bread with toppings. I remember the first time I had it was in Minneapolis in a restaurant called The Twin Cities grill or something, once they offered me free sample of their tomato and basil flat bread. it was amazing.
A few weeks ago I went to outback and had their chicken and artichoke flat bread. honestly they didn't do a good job, maybe due to the fact that friday was very busy and it's hard on the chefs. The first time it came out burnt (the manager didn't let them serve it to me, and told them to make another one). The second time it came up looking fine, but not cooked evenly. half of it was perfect, crunchy and still soft, but the other half was like almost raw and very chewy.
After doing some research, today I figured out a great recipe for making a light, airy, crunchy and soft to the bite flat bread. I used the Italian style flour from King Arthur, and I believe it did make a difference. This flour is basically a low gluten super fine (00) flour.
Two cups of KA italian style flour
3/4 cup warm water
4 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp yeast
Whisk the olive oil and yeast into warm water and form a nice emulsion. Let rest for 10 minutes, whisk again, and then mix it with the flour (already sifted with salt). It'll form a wet dough due to the flour being low gluten. If it's too wet, add a little flour and knead until you get a wet dough that's not too sticky for you to handle. Of course, the wetter the better since the water will provide ovenspring. Let dough rest for an hour or so in room temperature, or in fridge over night (make sure it returns to room temperature before doing anything to it). it wont' rise much, but it's not the bubbles that we are looking for. it's the flavor of the yeast.
heat oven to 500 degrees. divide the dough into 8 equal portions. take one portion, roll in your palm to form a ball, and flatten on the work surface. Then roll it into a thin sheet, like maybe.. 1 to 2 millimeter thick? place one or two sheets on a baking sheet, place in the middle rack of the oven and bake for 4 minutes. take it out and add whatever toppings you want to add, and return to oven for one or two more minutes so the toppings are cooked (mostly for the cheese to melt).
I didn't take a photo for it today, but I'll add one when I have a chance to make it again.
A few weeks ago I went to outback and had their chicken and artichoke flat bread. honestly they didn't do a good job, maybe due to the fact that friday was very busy and it's hard on the chefs. The first time it came out burnt (the manager didn't let them serve it to me, and told them to make another one). The second time it came up looking fine, but not cooked evenly. half of it was perfect, crunchy and still soft, but the other half was like almost raw and very chewy.
After doing some research, today I figured out a great recipe for making a light, airy, crunchy and soft to the bite flat bread. I used the Italian style flour from King Arthur, and I believe it did make a difference. This flour is basically a low gluten super fine (00) flour.
Two cups of KA italian style flour
3/4 cup warm water
4 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp yeast
Whisk the olive oil and yeast into warm water and form a nice emulsion. Let rest for 10 minutes, whisk again, and then mix it with the flour (already sifted with salt). It'll form a wet dough due to the flour being low gluten. If it's too wet, add a little flour and knead until you get a wet dough that's not too sticky for you to handle. Of course, the wetter the better since the water will provide ovenspring. Let dough rest for an hour or so in room temperature, or in fridge over night (make sure it returns to room temperature before doing anything to it). it wont' rise much, but it's not the bubbles that we are looking for. it's the flavor of the yeast.
heat oven to 500 degrees. divide the dough into 8 equal portions. take one portion, roll in your palm to form a ball, and flatten on the work surface. Then roll it into a thin sheet, like maybe.. 1 to 2 millimeter thick? place one or two sheets on a baking sheet, place in the middle rack of the oven and bake for 4 minutes. take it out and add whatever toppings you want to add, and return to oven for one or two more minutes so the toppings are cooked (mostly for the cheese to melt).
I didn't take a photo for it today, but I'll add one when I have a chance to make it again.
