Grilled Flatbread

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A no yeast recipe that is quick to make, Grilled Flatbread is a versatile bread ready for your favorite toppings.  Make use of your leftover potatoes, baked or mashed, to make flavorful bread for any meal.

Use the flatbreads for any meal - pile high with scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast, combine tomato sauce, pepperoni, and mozzarella for a satisfying lunch, or add a variety of charcuterie ingredients like prosciutto and creamy cheese for a nibble with your favorite cocktail.

What is flatbread?

One of the earliest foods produced, flatbreads are known around the globe by different names within different ethnic groups and nationalities.  Pita, tortilla, roti, and frybread to name a few,  are examples of the types of flatbread you can find around the world.  While there is a wide range of preparations, flatbreads tend to be a very ancient recipe within a culture's cuisine.

Flatbreads generally are made with a simple recipe, sometimes are leavened with yeast, sometimes cracker-thin, or sometimes thick and puffy.  What is the commonality of these recipes, is the ability to add a topping or two.

The popularity of flatbreads continues as cooks creatively add their own spin and ingredients.

Grilled flatbread recipe ingredients

Having leftover baked potatoes, I wanted to use them in a recipe that would benefit from their flavor.  All flatbreads start with flour, salt, and water.  For this recipe, starchy potatoes add flavor but also moisture.

Basic recipe Ingredients

• all-purpose flour
• baking powder
• kosher salt
• olive oil
• whole milk
• fennel seeds

Potatoes

What kind of leftover potatoes do you have on hand?  This recipe can be made with baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, or instant potato flakes.  Depending on which type of potato you use, the amount of whole milk is adjusted.

• baked potato - ¾ cup of milk
• mashed potatoes - ½ cup of milk
• instant potatoes - 1 ¼ cups of milk

Making flatbreads

The basic recipe starts with combining the dry ingredients - all-purpose flour, baking powder, kosher salt, and fennel seed.

Now add whatever type of potato you have on hand.

If you are using baked potato, it is best if it is riced or mashed.  I found it is easier to rice the potato if it is warmed in the microwave for a minute or two.  It doesn't need to be hot just warm enough to loosen the structure of the potato.

• Mix the potato and dry ingredients into a raggy dough.
• Combine olive oil and whole milk and pour into the dough.
• Using a rubber spatula, combine all the ingredients.  It will be a wet dough.

• Sprinkle some flour onto a flat surface and place the dough on top.  It will be sticky.  If the dough is too dry, the flatbread will be tough.

• Using the heel of your hand, push the dough away from you and then fold it on top of itself.  As you knead the dough, add small amounts of flour, 1 teaspoon at a time, to help reduce the stickiness.  The dough will start to become elastic and springy and will lose some of the stickiness.
• After 3-5 minutes, the dough will be smooth.  Form it into a ball and wrap it with plastic.  Let the dough relax in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

Rolling out the flatbread

This flatbread recipe will make 7 flatbreads.

• Each piece of dough is approximately 3 ounces.
• Roll each piece of dough into a ball.  Cover the dough with a towel so that a skin doesn't form.
• Press a ball of dough into a flat circle. Sprinkle a teaspoon of flour on a flat surface and with a rolling pin shape the dough into a 7-inch circle. If the top of the dough or the rolling pin starts to get sticky, sprinkle a small amount of flour.

Quick cook

There are a few different ways to cook flatbread.

On the grill

1. If you are grilling, wait until the coals have a coating of ash on them. Coat the grate with cooking spray or oil. 
2. Brush the bread with a small amount of olive oil. Place the bread on the grill and cook for 1½-2 minutes, until there are marks visible on the bread. Make sure to brush the uncooked side of the bread with a small amount of olive oil before flipping the bread.
3. Flip the bread and grill the other side for 1½-2 minutes. The bread may puff up and have large bubbles. Remove when the bread has grill marks.

With a grill pan or cast iron skillet

1. You can cook the bread in a cast iron skillet or a grill pan. Heat the pans until hot. Add ½ teaspoon of olive oil to the cast iron skillet or brush it on the grill pan.
2. Place the dough in the pan and cook for 1½-2 minutes. Flip the bread when it has become browned and crusty. Cook for another 1½-2 minutes. The dough may puff up or large bubbles may form as it cooks.
3. Add more olive oil to the pan as needed while cooking the remaining dough.

Grilled flatbread toppings

Here are some topping ideas from a farmer's market haul.  All the toppings are created with roasted vegetable combinations which is great hands-off prep.  The roasty vegetables are a perfect partner with the grilled bread.

Yellow and green zucchini, bell peppers, leeks

Mushroom, fennel, tomatoes

Carrots, onions, shallots, and garlic scapes

Tips

• While the recipe uses fennel seeds, you can substitute cumin seeds, fresh dill, or remove the herbs for a plain flatbread.
• The dough can be made  1 day ahead.  Anything longer, the potato in the dough will start to discolor.
• Grilled flatbreads will stay soft in the refrigerator for 1-2 days when stored in a ziplock bag.

Grilled Flatbread Ideas

Once the vegetables are roasted, the final flatbread toppings are added with some extra garnishes for a special pop of flavor.

• Zucchini, peppers, leeks with chimichurri, and goat cheese

• Mushrooms, fennel, tomatoes with burrata, and reduced balsamic syrup

• Carrots, onions, shallots, and garlic scapes with pistachios, and parmesan cheese

While the recipe for grilled flatbread is an ancient one, its popularity today belies its age.  Easily adaptable to whatever you crave or have on hand, flatbreads are perfect for sharing.  Cut each into slices so that you can taste, nibble, and compare.  Use them for sandwiches, encasing your favorite grilled sausage or saucy meatballs such as  https://tenpoundcakecompany.com/korean-barbecue-inspired-meatballs.

Or just eat the bread hot off the grill, dipped in some garlicky olive oil!