Grilled Spelt Flatbread with Tapenade & Tomato

Check out our Grilled Spelt Flatbread with Tapenade & Tomato featured in Pittsburgh Magazine this week! We just love Brazen Kitchen's Leah Lizarondo and her irreverent take on seasonal vegetarian cooking. 

This tender and chewy flatbread uses local spelt to up the nutty whole grain flavor. We are addicted to this no-knead spelt flatbread, and find it has a taste and texture reminiscent of Indian naan and whole wheat pita. On a warm summers evening, we like to throw this easy flatbread on the grill, spread generously with briny tapenade, and top with juicy ripe tomatoes. This spunky tapenade, packed with garlic, tarragon, and green olives, pairs beautifully with the sweetness of August tomatoes. For us, this dish epitomizes summer: fresh produce, bright flavors, and smoky char.    

Yield: Serves 4 as a light main

Ingredients:

   Spelt Flatbread

• 2 cups warm water (barely feels warm to the touch, about 100 degrees)
• 1 tablespoon dry active yeast
• 2 cups whole spelt flour (we use local Weatherbury Farms)
• 2 1/3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt

   Tapenade

• 1 1/4 cups Spanish green olives
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon capers
• 2 stalks green onions, roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh tarragon, roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, roughly chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar (can substitute red wine, cider vinegar)
• 3 garlic cloves

Toppings

• 1 pint tomatoes, sliced
• Basil leaves for garnish (optional)
• Fresh mozzarella (optional) 

Steps:

1. For Spelt Flatbread: In a small bowl, re-hydrate the yeast in warm (about 100 degree) water. Stir briefly to combine, and let sit 5 minutes. In a large mixing bowl, combine yeast-water mixture with spelt flour, all-purpose flour, and salt. Mix thoroughly by hand, until it forms a uniform sticky dough. Loosely cover, and allow dough to rise for 90 minutes. 
2. Dump the dough onto a heavily floured surface, and divide into 4 similarly sized pieces. Shape each piece into a smooth ball by stretching outward and folding back under itself about 4 times. Dust the dough in flour if it becomes too sticky to work with. Try not to break the skin as you pull, tuck, and shape the dough. This quick shaping process develops the gluten in the flour without a time consuming kneading process...creating the chewy texture you are looking for. 
3. After shaping each of the 4 pieces, you are ready to roll out the flatbreads. Start with the first ball you shaped. On a floured surface using a rolling pin, roll out a rough circle about 8 inches in diameter, it should be about 1/4 inch thick. Set each flatbread aside to rest as your grill preheats.
4. Preheat your grill on high for about 10 minutes. It should be very hot and very clean to ensure the flatbreads do not stick. Grill the flatbreads, one at a time, on high heat for about 2 minutes per side with the lid down. The flatbreads are best eaten immediately after grilling.  
5. For Tapenade: put all ingredients (olives, oil, capers, green onions, tarragon, parsley, salt, pepper, vinegar, garlic) into food processor, blender or mortar and puree until mixture has come together in a fairly uniform paste.  Adjust salt and pepper to taste.  Refrigerated and sealed, tapenade will last up to 2 weeks.
6. Assemble Flatbreads: Spread each freshly grilled flatbread with generous spoonfuls of tapenade, top with fresh tomatoes, and garnish with basil and mozzarella if desired (we kept ours vegan).