Asiago Hummus Flatbread!

(printable recipe here)

After a few weeks of working 4/10s, I realized the con ... after 10 hr work days you really don't want to do anything but pass out and wait for the next day. Trying to accomplish anything during the week is near impossible. So I had made this flatbread last weekend. I was one busy bee last weekend and didn't have enough time to post everything I wanted to so I thought, I'll just post it during the week. Sad as it sounds but it took me almost an entire week just to write the recipe and edit some of the pictures. Posting? Ha you can forget about that!

So now, one weekend later, here is my asiago hummus flatbread experiment! I like treating all my cooking experiences like a science experiment. Somewhere deep inside, the science part of me just loves the idea of being able to eat my experiments rather than disposing it in a hazardous waste container. I suppose there would be moments of needing a hazardous waste bins for when the recipes don't come out right... but I pride on that when it does work out, getting to eat it is the best part. 

A few years ago when I started my journey to a healthier lifestyle with making better food choices and exercising regularly, I decided I was going to take something unhealthy that I loved and cut it out of my diet completely... after much thought the final choices were pizza and sausages. Well my genius self back then decided my love for sausage was too great and that I rather give up pizza instead. Looking back now, that was a horrible choice but what is done is done. Until this day, I have not had a slice of pizza. You might think I'm crazy (I probably am) but it's not that bad once you get past wanting to eat every pizza in sight for the first few months. Now I can look at one and not have a problem...though because its such a default food for all occasions its quite disappointing when people say "lets get pizza" that I know I'm stuck with either bread sticks or salad for the meal but hey yay to healthy choices right?? I do have one exception though, if I am ever in New York, Chicago, or Italy and the pizza opportunity comes up, that will be the only time(s) I will have a slice. Love for food takes precedence on that one.

Though I no longer eat pizza, no one ever said anything about not eating its distant cousins such as naan, flat bread, and other similar breads with stuff on them. My personal loophole thank you very much! I win. 

Now what to put on my flat bread? I drew inspiration, of course, from pizza. Tomato sauce, cheese, and perhaps a protein of some sort are the common ingredients to all pizzas, how and what can I change to make what I'm making different?.... then I remembered I use to make this tapenade hummus spread to put in my sandwiches that was to die for! Instantly I knew then what direction I wanted to go. Luckily I had both tapenade and hummus lying around (side note: because baby carrots with hummus are awesome!! Made that discovery a few years back, best snack ever!) so all I needed was some cheese and meats, in this case, I picked asiago and sopressata (a type of salami) and I was set!

 Just imagine, a fragrant flat bread hot out of the oven layered with a red bell pepper artichoke tapenade hummus spread, melted asiago cheese and warm sopressata garnshed with cubed avocados and parsley flasks. If I didn't portion control, I think my brother would've ate the whole thing... so I guess I'll be making that again in the future! 

Now you try:

Makes approx 12”x 12” flatbread

Ingredients:

• 1 16oz bag of Trader Joe’s raw pizza dough (garlic & herb)
• 3-4 tbsp tapenade (pictured: Trader Joe’s Red Pepper & Artichoke)
• 3-4 tbsp hummus (pictured: spicy)
• 10-12 slices of astiago cheese (pictured: Trader Joe’s Asiago cheese + sopressata pack)
• 10-12 slices of sopressata
• Approx 1 tbsp parsley flakes (optional)
• 1 avocado, cubed (optional)
• Flour (for when working with pizza dough)

Procedure:

1. Prepare pizza dough via instructions on package if any. If not, sprinkle a little bit of flour onto work surface and hand knead/stretch pizza dough until it’s about 12” x 12” in size.
2. Prepare “sauce” by mixing together the tapenade and hummus then spread a thin layer onto the dough
3. Layer on toppings, cheese and meat, and anything else you’d like to add. Sprinkle on parsley flakes. Do not add avocado at this time unless you like it baked with the flatbread.
4. Bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes
5. Enjoy with fresh avocado!