.flatbread pizza , my way.

do you ever have something come over you at 9:00 in the morning that you know you won't be able to shake unless you give in to it? well, maybe i'm the only one. but when i started thinking one morning about a goat cheese flatbread pizza, i just couldn't let it go. as the day progressed, my mental recipe typewriter was adding and subtracting ingredients until i had completely worn out the ribbon.

by the time i got off work that afternoon, there was no option but to head straight to my local supermarket to pick up what i needed. i loaded my cart with fresh goods and maybe even drooled a little bit when i found the goat cheese i wanted. can you blame me?

as soon as i got home from work, i immediately began working on the olive oil dough, adapted from the artisan bread in five minutes recipe. measuring out the necessary ingredients and mixing them together was as easy as (pizza) pie. i'm not really sure why that expression exists.

for the two hours it took my dough to rise and fall like a great starchy empire, i managed to do some normal home things like laundry, dog chasing, counter cleaning, ironing...you get the point.

to top the pizza dough is to layer on the flavor and beauty. if you don't think food is a beautiful thing, this may not be the post for you. i'm a fan of onions. i think that they are a strong player in the flavor field. for this pizza, i decided to take the pungency of the onion and sweeten it by caramelizing.

meanwhile, in the oven, i roasted my thinly sliced zucchini rounds with a little olive oil, salt, pepper and italian herbs at 400 degrees F.

while both of those toppings were doing their thang, i unveiled the covered dough and saw that it was ready. on a very floured surface, i rolled out the dough.

although i was sure the flatbread itself would be delicious, i'm not good at just letting things be. so, i added cracked black pepper along the edges for the crust; as well as rosemary, thyme, and oregano to the whole surface of the pizza dough.

then, it was time to start layering on the toppings. both the roasted zucchini and caramelized onions were tempting me to eat them before they made their way to the pizza, but proudly, i resisted. this is a rarity.

next, i unwrapped the mound of goat cheese i'd purchased and began to crumble it over the pizza. there were a few pieces that fell on the counter. those, i had no choice but to eat.

as if goat cheese wasn't special enough, i scattered some pine nuts across the flatbread- which by now should be called hillybread due to the mounds of toppings climbing on that flat surface.

with all the ingredients in place, into the oven it went at 375 degrees F for about twelve to fifteen minutes.

when i pulled it out, i almost keeled over right then and there. it smelled good. it looked good. it even sounded good. wait, what? i got carried away.

taking some fresh basil from our garden that i'd cut, i let it float down over the pizza and land on little clouds of goat cheese.

if you're looking for a pizza dough, this stuff is where's it at. you can dress it up however you like or you can be just like me and create a flat bread so delicious you'll want to shout about it from the rooftops.

OLIVE OIL DOUGH
ADAPTED FROM: ARTISAN BREAD IN FIVE MINUTES A DAY
INGREDIENTS
1-3/8 cups lukewarm water
3/4 tablespoon granulated yeast (1 packet)
3/4 tablespoons Kosher salt
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil
3-1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
DIRECTIONS
1. In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, or in a large (5 quart) bowl working with a wooden spoon, mix the yeast, salt, sugar, and olive oil with the water.
2. Mix in the flour without kneading. If you are not using a machine, you may need to wet your hands in order to incorporate the bit of flour.
2. Transfer dough to large (5 quart) bowl or lidded food container. Cover (not airtight), and allow to rest at room temperature until dough rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2 hours.
3. The dough can be used immediately after the initial rise, though it is easier to handle when cold. Refrigerate in a lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next 12 days.