Speck and Brie Whole-wheat Flatbread

This flatbread (aka thin-crust pizza) turned out delicious.  I am thinking of making it again as an appetizer for an upcoming party at the neighbors.  Next time I may try blending whole-wheat and unbleached bread flour 50/50.  The actual flatbread part of this recipe is a basic recipe for Indian naan bread (at least how I make it) using whole wheat instead of unbleached bread flour, and some olive oil instead of melted butter.

This speck and brie flatbread is crazy good with a good pinot noir to drink.  Pinot noir really pairs well with the flavors of the speck, which is a sort of smoked prosciutto (how can that be bad?), and the brie cheese.

Speck and Brie Whole-wheat Flatbread
Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups of whole-wheat bread flour (or try a 50/50 mix with unbleached bread flour)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 cup of low-fat or zero-fat greek yogurt (I'm a big fan of the FAGE yogurt.. an amazing and amazingly good for you product)
• 4 tablespoons olive oil (if making naan, use 4 tablespoons of melted butter instead)
• 2 cups worth of fontina cheese (shredded)
• 1 package of speck (if not in packages, be sure to ask for very thin slices; about 10 slices)
• 1 wedge of brie cheese (amount will vary depending on number and sizes of pizzas)
• 1/4 cup of blanched almond slivers (toast until a light brown color in a dry non-stick skillet over medium heat)
• fresh basil

Method

Prepare Flatbread Dough: Sift (you can pour the dry ingredients through a fine mesh strainer into the mixing bowl) the flour, baking powder, and sea salt into a large mixing bowl.  Add the yogurt and olive oil.  Stir all of the ingredients with a large wooden spoon until mostly mixed and becoming difficult to stir. Use your hands to continue to mix and begin to knead the dough. Knead the dough either in the bowl or on a floured surface for a good 5 minutes. Wrap the dough in plastic or place a damp, clean, kitchen towel completely over the mixing bowl with the dough inside.  Let the dough rest for 2 hours.  The dough will not rise like a yeast based dough (it will stay the same size).

Make the Pizzas: Preheat pizza stone in a 400 degree (F) oven.  If you don't have a pizza stone, preheat oven and then preheat a dry, rimmed metal baking sheet.  On a floured surface, roll out flatbread dough to a thin layer and of the desired pizza size.  Cook flatbread on hot pizza stone or baking sheet for 3 minutes (the dough may inflate into a large pillow while in the oven).  Carefully remove flatbread from oven on a pizza peel (if using a pizza stone) or by removing the baking sheet from the oven.  Sprinkle shredded fontina cheese to make a thin layer across flatbread (the flatbread should have deflated after being removed from the oven). Place a layer of speck slices across top of fontina cheese layer.  Hand-tear fresh basil and place over speck such that there will be some basil with each slice of cooked flatbread.  First thinly slice brie (about 1 mm thick) and cut into bite-size pieces (about 1 inch square).  Place brie on the next layer of the flatbread with about 2 inches of separation between brie pieces (the brie will melt and spread).  Sprinkle toasted almond slivers over top of assembled flatbread.  Place flatbread back in the oven (either on the pizza stone or still on the baking sheet) and bake until the cheese is melted and starting to show some brown color, and crust is crisp. Repeat until all of the dough is used.