Flatbread Pizza and Strawberry Hill

The picture above is part of the rocky shore area of Strawberry Hill State Park. The morning we started out there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It was a little after 6:00am and cool enough for a light weight jacket and gloves. From the parking lot we walked to a newly constructed pathway consisting of wood stairs and walkways. At the end of this walkway are the basalt rocks where you can go down to the cove, tide pools and rock cliffs.

Strawberry Hill is considered to be a rocky intertidal marine garden and now you can see why. We stayed for a few hours as the tide was pretty low and walked from one tide pool to another. After our early morning fun I returned home to start on this flat bread dough. This recipe comes from an old, May 2007 bon appétit magazine. and has been my go to pizza the last couple of years. When planning your meal allow for the time it takes for your dough to rise. To save time make a few extra batches and even freeze some if needed.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups warm water
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
3 cups flour, plus more for kneading and rolling out
2 teaspoons coarse salt
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

To prepare:

Combine water and yeast in a small bowl and let sit for 10 minutes or until dissolved. Whisk 3 cups of flour and salt together in large bowl. Add yeast mixture and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Using a wooden spoon, mix until dough is sticky. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 6 minutes or until smooth and quite elastic, incorporating extra flour as needed.

Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil in large bowl and place dough in it, turning to coat. Cover with cling wrap and let sit in a warm spot until dough doubles in size about 1 to 2 hours or longer depending on the weather.

Punch down dough, divide into 6 pieces. Shape each piece into a ball. Refrigerate and wrap each in cling wrap until ready to use. When ready, sit out on counter about 30 to 40 minutes. Roll out until quite thin on a floured surface.

At this point you can either grill or bake in oven. When baking I make more of a pizza (picture below), add a little mozzarella, mushrooms and Parmesan cheese. Bake at 450°F for about 6 to 8 minutes.

To grill (picture below) prepare barbecue to medium-high heat. Then grill each flat bread until cooked through and golden, approx 2 to 4 minutes per side. I like mine slightly charred. As each flat bread comes off the grill brush generously with olive oil. Add salt, sesame seeds, za'atar, or whatever you want. I added leftover kale and potatoes with thyme from last night's dinner. Delicious!