Flatbread with Fennel and Feta
An inspired salty-sweet-crunchy and slightly anise-y approach to topping a thin dough base, Gordon's Middle Eastern-style "pizza" will make your tastebuds sing. Total time assumes you have the flatbreads (or dough) ready to cook and that you make one at a time. If you have two 12-inch pans, by all means make both flatbreads in tandem.
Ingredients
- 2 Middle Eastern Flatbreads *
- 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
- pinch Kosher or sea salt
- 3-5 grinds black pepper
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 small bulb fennel washed and trimmed
- 4 ounces feta crumbled
- 1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses **
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200 F and then turn it off. You will use it to keep the first flatbread warm while you make the second, unless you have two 12-inch skillets and want cook the flatbreads simultaneously.
- Using a Y-shaped vegetable peeler, mandoline, or sharp knife, shave the fennel bulb into very thin slices.
- Heat a 12-inch frying pan over medium heat. Toast the fennel seeds for 1-2 minutes until fragrant. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Drizzle half the olive oil into the frying pan. Working with one flatbread at a time, toast the flatbreads about 2 minutes on one side. If working with flatbread dough, divide it to produce two rounds rolled out thin with diameters of 10-12 inches. Add to the pan and cook about 4-5 minutes on the first side. The surface will begin to bubble when it's ready.
- Once golden brown and warmed on the bottom, flip the first flatbread over and begin scattering half of the shaved fennel over the surface of the round. Sprinkle half of the crumbled feta and toasted fennel seeds on top of the shaved fennel. Drizzle half of the pomegranate molasses over the flatbread.
- Remove the flatbread after the bottom is golden brown and warmed through, about 2 minutes for pre-made bread and 5 minutes for flatbread dough.
- Place the first flatbread in the oven to keep warm while you repeat with the other flatbread. Serve.
Notes
*see Gozleme recipe for suggested flatbread recipe (this will make 133% the amount of dough you need for this recipe, but you'll appreciate having it for later), use pizza dough, your favorite thin-crust dough recipe, or a purchased flatbread.
**Buy pomegranate molasses in specialty food stores like Whole Foods, Asian or Middle Eastern grocery markets, or make your own by reducing pomegranate juice (available at Trader Joe's) to one-quarter the starting volume.