Beet and goat cheese is always an excellent combination, and this flatbread is a great starter or main dish anytime in the CSA Season! If you love beet and goat cheese as much as we do, try this Beet, Goat Cheese, and Escarole Salad. There is not a lot of prep work to this dish, but you’ll need time to bake the beets, and let the dough rise. You can also use pre made pizza dough for a short cut. I made a spelt dough, and this recipe will work with whole wheat or whole spelt flour. If you have a favorite pizza dough recipe, feel free to use it for the flatbreads. If you’re making the dough from scratch, you’ll want to start it first.
Use a stand-up mixer to mix the dough, and then put it in a warm place to rise for about an hour. You can use a rolling pin to roll out the dough, or if you know how to toss it in the air like a pizza-maker. Whole grain crusts don’t stretch as well for me, so I used a small rolling pin.
While the dough is rising cook the beets. For dishes like this, with thin slices of cooked, tender beets I like to bake the beets in a covered dish or wrapped in foil then remove the skins when cooked. Just wash the beets, cut off the tops and bottoms, then rub with olive oil. It takes a long time for them to cook through, an hour to an hour and twenty minutes. If you plan ahead it’s an easy and versatile cooking technique. When they’re cooked through, set them aside to cool, then remove the skins and thinly slice.
When the crust is ready and the beets are cooked, assemble your flatbread on an oiled pan, a baking stone, or in a cast iron skillet. Bake at 450F for 20 minutes.
Beet and Goat Cheese Flatbread (makes 2 flatbreads)
2 large beets
4 oz goat cheese
Flatbread Dough
3 cups whole-wheat flour or whole-spelt flour
1 cup warm water
2 tsp dry yeast
2 tsp salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
Make flatbread dough. Combine water and yeast, let it sit for a few minutes until foamy. Add salt and olive oil. Combine yeast mixture and flour in a stand-up mixer and mix on low speed for 6-7 minutes. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place (like on top of the oven baking the beets for about an hour)
Bake the beets. Preheat oven to 350F. Wash beets and cut off bottoms. Place beets in a covered casserole dish or on a sheet of foil, and drizzle with oil. Bake covered or wrapped in foil for 60-80 minutes until tender. Remove from oven, cool until you can easily peel. Thinly slice beets and set aside. Raise oven heat to 450F.
Prepare flatbread dough. Spread flour over a clean counter or wooden cutting board. Divide dough into two balls and roll out with a rolling pin.
Assemble flatbread. Drizzle olive oil over each flatbread. Spread thinly sliced beets over the dough, sprinkle with salt and pepper, then crumble 2 oz goat cheese over each flatbread. Bake at 450F for 2o minutes.
