Perfecting the Pairing: flatbread

Friday, February 19, 2016

Mushroom Flatbread with Pesto, Goat Cheese, and Balsamic

Perfect Pairing: Girls' Night

A couple weeks ago Chris was out of town for the night on a mini “bro-cation”. For the record, he did not call it this, that is 100% me. He headed to Champaign/Urbana to watch the Fighting Illini play.

That meant I had a night by myself at home. I was going to miss him, but I was also going to make the most of it by making it super girly. I was going to make the girliest thing I could think of for dinner, enjoy a mini bottle of champagne, and watch a chick flick that featured Bradley Cooper as a chef. I was pumped.

I formulated my plan for a girly dinner as I perused the grocery store. What is girlier than flatbread with goat cheese? I mean, it is actually just pizza, but we call it flatbread so it sounds classy. If I was making pizza for my husband it would most definitely have some kind of meat on it. If I am making it for me it is going to be overflowing with mushrooms. Chris is not a huge fan, so this was the perfect time to go fungi-wild.

Instead of traditional pizza sauce I used a basil pesto. So much flavor! I always keep pesto in the freezer, it is a great ingredient to have on hand.

The sautéed mushrooms are finished off with a caramelization of balsamic, and then the whole flatbread is dotted with tangy goat cheese.

So good. So girly. Dudes, if you want to make and enjoy this flatbread…. No judgement here!

One year ago on Perfecting the Pairing: Brussels Sprout and Pear Salad with Bacon and Candied Pistachios

Two years ago on Perfecting the Pairing: Chocolate Sauce

Three years ago on Perfecting the Pairing: Butternut Squash Risotto

Four years ago on Perfecting the Pairing: Oven Roasted Salmon in Lemon Broth with Pea Puree

Caramelized Onion, Fontina, and Prosciutto Flatbread

Perfect Pairing: Great music

I struggled with the name of this recipe. There is so much I want you to know about it! In addition to the caramelized onion, fontina, and prosciutto there are chopped dates and a salad of fresh greens. I could not figure out how to make all of those things fit in the title.

I made this for a recent get together with my girlfriends. We all loved it. I look forward to those nights so much. We always have so much to catch up on with each other’s lives. There is never enough time to cover all of the topics. I talked about our planning process in this post. We always have a delicious spread, this night was no different. We all end up hanging around my island and munching on the dishes. By the end of the night it is a bit of a mess but you can tell we enjoyed ourselves!

I absolutely loved this flatbread. It had the perfect combination of sweet and salty. The salad on top adds a brightness that pairs nicely with the rich cheese and prosciutto. I will definitely be making this again.

The Perfect Pairing for this flatbread is great music. Great music is a must at any party, in my opinion. My absolute favorite group right now is Mumford and Sons. I think they are pretty well known, but I feel like I need to promote them to those folks who don’t know them yet. I dare you to listen to them and not tap your toe. When I hear Mumford and Sons I feel like I am in a pub in the Temple Bar district of Dublin. Some of my favorite songs are listed below with YouTube links if you are interested in listening to them before committing to an iTunes purchase.

If you like Mumford and Sons you would probably also like the City and Colour album, Bring Me Your Love. I ran across this group on Pandora and found myself “liking” their songs over and over. They have a great laid back sound that is perfect for background party music. Admittedly, their lyrics are pretty depressing so I suggest just focusing on the melody. That is why it is perfect for background music!

One final favorite is Galway Girl by Mundy and Sharon Shannon. This song was wildly popular when I was in Dublin a few years ago. Just listening to it makes me want to go back to Ireland. I was in Dublin for work and extended a few days to experience Dublin and the Cliffs of Moher. I was ridiculously lucky with the weather at the cliffs (so I am told). Check out that view.