Kaki:  Meyer Lemon Day was my first foray into pizza dough.

And… I’m not sure I did it quite right.  I used a Smitten Kitchen recipe, so I think the instruction was solid.  But I might have added too much wheat germ, or over-kneaded it, or under-kneaded it, or… The crust was a touch chewier than I would have liked, so if you already have a go-to pizza dough method, you should go with that and just take these as topping inspiration.

Because the toppings, whoa dang, were they good.  I’ve just recently come around to olives, but now I love their assertive, briny flavor.  Also, um, I will never say No to adding two types of cheese to something.  And the lemon slices gave it such a freshness… a great appetizer, all around.

(Psst, also?  I think I want to take this online, self-paced pizza class.  If I do, I’ll let you know how it goes!)

Flatbread with Meyer Lemon, Goat Cheese, Rosemary, and Olives

Crust adapted from Smitten Kitchen; toppings inspired by The LA Times (idea #13)
Serves 4 as a hearty appetizer

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour, plus extra for the countertop
• 1/2 cup wheat germ
• 1/8 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/4 cup water
• 1 Meyer lemon
• 1/2 cup goat cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 2 sprigs rosemary
• 1/3 cup pitted olives, sliced
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Begin about 22-hours before you want to eat the flatbread.

In a large bowl, combine the first five ingredients (flour through water).  Stir together until a rough dough forms.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let sit on the counter for about 22-hours.  It should double in size in that time.

When you are ready to assemble and bake your flatbread, pre-heat your oven to about 500*F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Flour your counter well, and scrap the dough out onto it.  Dust the top of the dough with more flour, and divide into two equally sized pieces.  Roll each piece into a ball, and then hold the pizza dough up by the top, letting gravity stretch it out.  Move your hands around the edge of the dough, each time letting the weight of the dough hang down to help it stretch into shape.  When the edges start to get thin, lay the stretched dough out on the parchment-lined baking sheet.  Continue to stretch the dough gently on the baking sheet until it covers about 70-90% of the baking sheet.  Repeat with the other ball of dough.

Add the toppings to the dough: Slice the stem end and the opposite end off of the Meyer lemon, removing some of the thicker peel (though none of the peel should be especially thick); discard these ends.  Slice the remaining lemon into very thin rounds, with either a mandoline or a sharp knife.  Evenly distribute the lemon slices on top of the flatbread dough.

Evenly crumble the goat cheese and sprinkle the Parmesan cheese over the dough.  Remove the rosemary leaves from the woody stem; roughly chop the leaves, and scatter them evenly over the flatbreads.  Evenly sprinkle the sliced olives over the flatbreads.  Finally, evenly drizzle the olive oil over the flatbreads.

Bake the flatbreads in the pre-heated oven for about 15 minutes.  The edges should get quite a bit of color on them; almost burnt edges is even OK.

Slice up and enjoy!

The next Meyer Lemon Day recipe will be a Prosecco cocktail, so what’s not to like, amirite?

Have a great week, Kaki,

Caitlin