Sensational Seafood Flatbreads

These delicious and impressive flatbreads are great for summer parties or a family dinner!

As I have said before my husband is an excellent baker. His ability to be precise and follow directions the same way every time means that his dough always come out light and delicious, while mine is usually dry and flat. When ever we have pizza of flatbreads I ask him to make me some dough either the night before or in the morning before he goes to work. Someone has to keep an eye on it for the first rise because it has a tendency to try to escape the bowl you but it in. After it has risen once though it can be put in the fridge where it still rises but not too much more. For this recipe we used half the dough and wrapped the other half in cling wrap and put it in the freezer where is will last for a while.

---

Dustin’s Pizza Dough:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups bread flour
• 1 Tbsp. sugar or honey
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. instant active-dry yeast
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 cups room temperature water

Combine all ingredients together in a stand mixer bowl mixing thoroughly and then let it sit for 5 minutes. After it has rested use the dough hook to knead the dough on a low speed. Let the stand mixer knead the dough for about 10 minute. The dough will try to climb it’s way up the dough hook so you will have to stop a couple time and pull it down. When you are done the dough will still seem a little wet but that’s okay. Transfer it to a clean bowl that you have but a little olive oil in. Swirl the ball of dough around so it’s covered in the oil and then cover the bowl with cling wrap. Leave out on the counter out of direct sunlight and let rise for 2 hours.

BBQ Shrimp Flatbread:

• 10-15 medium sized shrimp, cooked
• 1/2 cup of BBQ sauce
• 1/2 bell pepper, sliced thinly
• 1/3 cup of red onion, sliced thinly
• 1 cup grated mozzarella

For this flatbread I had every thing laid out ahead of time. I cooked my shrimp earlier in the day by sauteing them in a small pan with some olive oil, salt and pepper. Try to remove them from the heat when they are just barely done because they will also get a little cooked on top of the flatbread.

I simply cut of a small chunk of Dustin’s pizza dough and rolled it out on a floured surface. I was aiming for about plate-size on these, so it was about a tennis ball sized chunk of dough.

Heat oven to 400°F and spread your dough out on a cookie sheet. Rub  the top with a small drizzle of olive oil and bake until the dough looks cooked but not brown on top and just beginning to turn brown on the bottom (about 10 minutes). Remove the flat bread from the oven.

Spread the BBQ sauce on the bread (I used a “Sweet Heat” variety) and then layer your ingredients, finally topping with a light layer of cheese. Turn your oven’s broiler on ‘High’ and then place the flatbread an inch or two under the broiler so that the cheese can melt and get bubbly. For this last part you should probably sit there watching the dish broil, as it will burn the second you turn away from it.

Earthy Salmon Flatbread:

• 4 oz. of salmon, cooked
• 3/4  roasted beet, diced
• 3/4 cup sauteed crimini mushrooms
• 1/2 cup shallots, sliced
• 2 Tbsp. aged balsamic vinegar
• 1 cup mozzarella
• 1/2 cup creme fraiche
• 2 tsp. lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp. fresh dill, minced
• salt and pepper

This flatbread begins the same as the first. Make sure you have your dough prepared and then begin assembling the mise en place.

Pan sear your salmon starting flesh side down and then flip it over and finish it skin side down. Cook until just barely done and set aside and allow to cool.

Earlier in the day (or the day before) peel, slice in half, and roast your beets. One small-medium sized beet is all you will need for one flatbread (about 3/4 of a cup) but roasted beets are delicious and handy to have around for salads so you should roast up a few when you do it.

Next slice one large shallot very thinly and add to a small saute pan, cook with a little butter and salt until the shallots begin to brown and then deglaze the pan with a little over a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar. Stir the shallots so that the vinegar doesn’t burn and all the liquid should cook off or be absorbed almost immediately. Remove the shallots from the pan and set aside.

Dice your crimini mushrooms and also saute them with a small amount of butter and salt, cook for about 5 minutes.

In a small bowl add your half cup of creme fraiche with a pinch of salt and some fresh ground pepper. Add 2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice and about a tablespoon of finely minced fresh dill.

Once again roll out your dough on a floured surface and then transfer to a cookie sheet. Top with olive oil and then cook for about 10 minutes until the top is cooked and the bottom is beginning to brown. Remove from the oven and layer the beets and mushrooms on the bottom, and then sprinkle the pickled onion on top of that.

Flake the salmon over everything else and then finally top with the grated mozzarella, not a lot, just enough to cover everything.

Broil on high for an additional 3-4 minutes until the edge of the crust gets darker and the cheese is bubbly. Remove the flatbread from the oven and once it has cooled for about 5 minutes then drizzle the dill sauce over the flatbread.

 

 

 

(Note: I purposefully did not call these “pizzas” because they lack tomato sauce, and are a little free-form. I feel like whereas pizza needs sauce, toppings, and cheese, you can put whatever you want on a flatbread. In the summer I’ve made them with grilled peaches and brie, topped with arugula and drizzled with vinaigrette. Seriously. Put whatever takes your fancy on them. Also they can be made on the barbecue too which is equally fun and delicious.)