Saturday, May 18, 2013

Strawberry Balsamic Flatbread with Goat Cheese & Mint



Hi Everyone! Happy Saturday!  It's a beautiful Spring day here today.  So much has happened this week (with lots of good food!) and the days are going by so fast.  It's hard to believe there is only a month left of school.  We can feel summer coming! I started planting flowers in my yard earlier this week and discovered that aside from frosting a cake, planting is the best therapy known to man! By far my favorite hobby~








Before I tell you about the yummy strawberry flatbread I made for Mother's day, I have to tell you about my latest read.  It's the second Sarah Addison Allen book I've read this month called The Girl Who Chased the Moon. O-M-Gosh - it was fantastic!  Good enough to keep me up till 3 am just to finish it.  My expectations were pretty high after Garden Spells, but I must admit I like this one just as much if not a bit better.  Like in Garden Spells, there is an element of magic and mystery (like a bedroom were the wallpaper changes on it's own - pretty cool, right?), and also a common theme of going back home and facing your past. Seventeen year old Emily Benedict's mother has suddenly passed away, and she is sent to live with a grandfather that she never even knew she had, in her mother's childhood home.  There she discovers that her mother was not the person Emily thought she was.  She encounters her mother's old schoolmates and finds out why she left town and never returned.  There is also subplot between two of her mother's former classmates, Julia & Sawyer, that had me sobbing around 2 am last Saturday evening : - )




And now for the flatbread.....

I got this recipe from one of my favorite blogs Joy the Baker.  In her recipe, Joy makes her own dough (click here for the yummy recipe).  I didn't have enough time on Sunday so I got a fresh pizza dough at the bakery in the grocery store.  It worked out perfectly and I was happy with the results ♥  

1 fresh pizza dough (nice and puffy)
2 tbs olive oil
1 tsp orange zest
1 tbs sugar
1 cup thinly sliced strawberries
sea salt for sprinkling
1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese
balsamic vinegar
1 tbs fresh mint, chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Work the olive oil, orange zest, and sugar into the dough.  Knead it for a minute or two until you can see the orange zest evenly distributed throughout the dough.  Spread onto a greased cookie sheet.  Top with sliced strawberries and sprinkle with sea salt. 




Bake for 20 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes.  Drizzle lightly with balsamic vinegar, goat cheese, and fresh mint. 




Cut into squares and serve.  YUMMM!!!!!  Open a bottle of wine and enjoy with friends.  It makes a lovely appitizer. 




We are out and about today, off to the library and then to a birthday party this afternoon. I'm also planning on making something delicious (with frosting...hint, hint) that I can't wait to share with you.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend! ♥

4 comments:

  1. Sounds like your family is in summer vacation mode:) This looks delicious and full of spring/summer flavors. Goat cheese and strawberries are two of my favorite foods!

    Enjoy your weekend. xxleslie

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  2. The book sounds wonderful! And the flatbread looks so good.

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  3. It's an unusual topping for a pizza, with strawberries and goat's cheese, plus sugar. Maybe the addition of Balsamic vinegar provides a certain amount of acidity which takes the sweetness away from the strawberries. Is this a dessert, or is it savoury? I have seen lots of pizza toppings, but this one is very original and unusual. I think it might confuse my taste buds, though it really looks good!

    CIAO!

    ANNA

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  4. Oh my goodness...does this look delicious. Can't wait to try it!

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