My good friend, Amanda, was in town last week and we had so much fun together. We went to the pool, had a little road trip to Austin, and ate A LOT of good food. The second night that she was in town we cooked dinner together, which is something we hadn’t done since we lived together in Florence over 4 years ago. When she first suggested that we make dinner, I knew exactly what I wanted to make. I wanted her to teach me how to make this eggplant and tomato dip that she made in Florence once. It had made a lasting impression on me and I wanted the recipe! Anyways, long story short, dinner (including the dip) was a success and I now have another recipe to add to my collection.
Even though it’s only been 4 days since Amanda left (7 days since we made the dip together), I decided to make the dip again for dinner tonight while her instructions were still fresh in my memory. Usually the dip is eaten with pita bread or crostini, but when I came across this recipe for Whole Wheat Flatbreads on Joy the Baker, I changed my game plan.
Not only were these flatbreads perfect with the dip, but also they were really easy to make and I imagine that they would go well with just about anything. Plus, making your own bread is pretty impressive (my husband was totally impressed), so I think you should try it too.
Whole Wheat Flatbreads
Adapted from Joy the Baker, who adapted it from Food Network
I added some dried oregano to this batch, but feel free to omit the oregano and add other dry or fresh herbs.
1 package active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon sugar
3/4 cup warm water, about 110 degrees F
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano (optional)
1 teaspoon olive oil
Combine the yeast, sugar, and 1/4 cup of the warm water in a small bowl and let sit for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, pepper and dried oregano. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the yeast mixture and the remaining 1/2 cup of water. Mix the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients with a fork until a shaggy dough forms. Turn out the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead the dough a few times until it feels smooth and then form the dough into a ball.
Coat a medium bowl with a teaspoon of olive oil and place the dough ball into the bowl, turning it so that it is coated with olive oil. Leave the dough ball in the bowl and cover loosely with plastic wrap and a clean kitchen towel. Let rise in a warm place for 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in size.
Punch down the dough, then turn out the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead a few times. Use a knife to divide the dough into 12 equal pieces.
Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat. Lightly flour a rolling pin and roll out each piece of dough until they are about 1/8 inch thick. Cook the flatbreads in the non-stick skillet for 1 to 2 minutes on each side, until each side has browned. These are best served immediately. If making ahead, reheat the flatbreads in a skillet or wrap them in tin foil and bake them in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes.
Makes 12 small flatbreads.
