I LOVE pizza! I know I'm all grown up now, but I'm pretty sure that pizza is still my favorite food in the entire world. That and peanut butter :) Lately I've had a craving for buffalo chicken flatbread pizza from our favorite restaurant and so I thought that I'd give it a try at home. YUM!
The flatbread recipe that I used is from Williams Sonoma, and now that I've tried it out once I have a couple of tricks for making it right the first time. The recipe makes 2 flatbreads - so you can use both at once, refrigerate half to use within the next day, or freeze half to use within a month or two. To thaw they recommend letting the dough sit out at room temperature until the dough begins to rise again, about 3 hours.
3 1/2 cups flour
2 1/4 t (or 1 packet) instant yeast
1 T sugar
1 T salt (I used a little less)
1 1/4 c to 1 1/2 c warm water (NOTE: I used 1 1/4 c water and still had to knead in extra flour)
2 T olive oil, plus more for bowl
1.) You can combine all dry ingredients in a food processor or a bowl to blend together (IF using instant yeast). Then add the warm water and olive oil and pulse/stir until the dough comes together. If using active yeast simply activate the yeast by adding it to the warm water and sugar and letting it sit until foamy, about 5 minutes. Then add this active yeast mixture to the dry ingredients along with the oil.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead about 2 minutes until dough forms a smooth ball. Oil a large bowl and place the dough in it, turning the dough to coat it with the oil. Cover your dough with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.
2.) Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, punch the dough down and knead lightly. Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces and knead again to form each piece into a smooth ball. Cover each ball with a kitchen towel and let rest for 10 minutes. At this point you may choose whether you want to store some of the dough to use later.
3.) Preheat oven to 450 degrees. I greased a cookie sheet to bake my flatbread on but you may also sprinkle cornmeal on your baking sheet instead of greasing. Stretch/ roll the dough out onto your sheet -- Be careful not to overstretch your dough in the center. It was very easy to do this if you try and stretch your dough too thin -- and then your dough will not rise and will burn into a little cracker in the center :( Cover with a damp towel and let rise for 15 minutes. Use fingertips to make several impressions in the dough, drizzle with olive oil and either bake as is or top as desired with sea salt/herbs. Bake in prepared oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes.
PIZZA!
Now for the good stuff. For my buffalo chicken pizza I kept it really simple...
Ranch dressing (would also be good with blue cheese dressing)
Shredded Mozzarella cheese (can also add blue cheese here!)
1 large chicken breast, baked/grilled and diced
3 stalks celery, diced
1 jalapeno, diced/sliced
Hot buffalo wing sauce
For a creamy base I drizzled a little ranch dressing on the crust. Top this with the chicken breast and celery. Drizzle a heavier amount of the wing sauce over your chicken and celery and then top with cheese. Add jalapenos to the top of your pizza and give just a sprinkle more cheese. Broil pizza on the lowest rack of your oven for about 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted and begins to brown.
I also made a quick traditional pizza with the other crust using a little pizza sauce, sauteed onion and green pepper, pepperoni, mozz cheese and some crushed red chili pepper flakes. But the options are endless! Next on my list is to do a tomato, sliced mozzarella and torn basil flatbread...doesn't get any more summer than that!
Link to the Williams Sonoma flatbread recipe
