California Grill Oven Roasted Tomato Flatbread Recipe

#BakingThroughIsolation #Episode6

California Grill Oven Roasted Tomato Flatbread (circa 2018)

Adapted from recipe by Chef Brian Piasecki at California Grill, the Contemporary Resort

Ingredients:

Flatbread

• 1 ½ tsp active dry yeast
• 1 cup + 1 tbsp warm water
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 ½ cup all purpose flour 
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp olive oil 

Oven Dried Tomatoes

• 2-3 large beefsteak tomatoes
• Olive oil
• Coarse salt and black pepper

Roasted Garlic Purée 

• 1 head of garlic, skin removed and cut in half lengthwise
• ½ tbsp olive oil
• Coarse salt and black pepper

Flatbread Toppings

• 1-2 balls of Fresh Mozzarella cut into ½ inch thick crescents or discs
• ¼ cup Romano cheese
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar (optional)
• 10 fresh basil leaves (optional) (*substitute Italian season if you don’t have fresh basil or balsamic*)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Core tomatoes and remove seeds. Slice tomatoes into ¼ inch thick slices. Lay them on baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Bake in oven for 90 minutes to 2 hours until tomatoes are darker in color and semi dehydrated. While you wait, make your flatbread dough.
4. In a small bowl, add yeast, sugar, and ½ cup warm. Stir together and leave for 5-6 minutes to allow yeast to bloom.
5. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour and salt. Add yeast mixture and stir it all together. You can use a standard mixer with the normal mixer attachments for this stage. Add remaining water to form a slightly sticky dough. After this stage, begin to use your hands to form dough until it comes together in a ball. 
6. Prepare a floured surface and knead dough for about 2-3 minutes to activate gluten. Form ball. Add a tbsp of olive oil to your mixing bowl. Roll dough ball around until entire ball has a thin coat of olive oil.
7. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place to rise for 1 hours.
8. After tomatoes are done roasting, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place garlic on a large piece of aluminum foil. Drizzle with olive oil. Wrap foil up and over, creating a foil pouch. 
   Roast for 1 hour. Unwrap and set aside until cool enough to peel. Squeeze garlic out of skins into a medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper and use a fork to mash the garlic until smooth.
9. Prepare a floured surface. Punch down dough to remove air. Split dough in half and roll out flatbread dough with a rolling pin. Roll dough until about ¼ inch thick. Cut into rectangles. Repeat with other half of dough.
10. Heat a skillet or griddle to medium high heat for a few minutes until hot. Place one flatbread gently into skillet (or as many as fit on your griddle). Cook for 2-3 minutes or until you seen golden brown spots when you check it, then flip and repeat on the other side fo 2-3 minutes. Set aside on cooling rack to use later. Continue until all your flatbreads are cooked.
11. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F and then assemble flatbreads:
• Use a brush to spread garlic purée on each flat bread.
• Top with oven roasted tomatoes and mozzarella crescents. 
• Sprinkle with Romano cheese and Italian seasoning.
12. Place each flatbread on a pizza stone (or baking sheet) and bake for 5-7 minutes. Drizzle with balsamic and top with fresh basil (we did not because of children’s taste buds and lack of basil due to COVID-19).
13. Cut flatbreads and serve immediately.