Guest Post: Grain-free Flatbread with Balsamic Basil Pesto, Peaches, Goat Cheese and Arugula
Beth Manos Brickey - Tasty Yummies
2-4Ingredients:
Grain-free Flatbread Crust:
- 1 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
- 2 tablespoons tapioca starch (potato or arrowroot work too)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 large farm fresh egg*
- 2 tablespoons oil (grape seed oil, olive oil, coconut oil, melted butter, etc)
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
Basil Balsamic Pesto:
- 2 cups fresh basil
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1/4 cup toasted almonds (or other nut of your choice)
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
Toppings:
- 2 peaches or nectarines, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup goat cheese crumbled, optional
- 2 handfuls arugula
- extra virgin olive oil
- balsamic vinegar
* To make vegan: use a “chia egg” – 1 tablespoon ground chia and 3 tablespoons boiling water, mix into a slurry and let rest a few minutes until the consistency is like a beaten egg.
Instructions:
Grain-free Flatbread Crust:
- Preheat oven to 350ºF
- In a large bowl or the bowl of your standup mixer, combine the almond flour, starch, salt, baking soda, and garlic powder. In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar and the egg (or chia egg). Add the wet mixture to the dry flour mixture, mixing until it is well combined.
- If the dough seems a bit tacky and sticky, that’s ok. Work the dough a little longer and let it rest for a few minutes. Roll the dough into a large ball (you can also make two smaller flatbreads, if you wish). You can place the dough in the fridge until you are ready for it or roll out the dough between two pieces of parchment paper to your desired thickness, around 1/8-inch thick.
- Place the rolled out dough between the two pieces of parchment paper onto your baking sheet. Carefully peel off the top layer of parchment paper. Patch any tears or breaks with your fingers. Drizzle a little more oil of your choice over the flatbread and spread it out evenly.
- Place the flatbread into the oven and pre-bake at 350º for 10 minutes or until it is just barely golden brown around the edges. Take the flatbread crust out of the oven after pre-baking and set aside while you prep the rest of your ingredients.
Basil Balsamic Pesto:
- Add the basil, garlic and almonds to your high speed blender and pulse until coarsely chopped.
- Add the olive oil and balsamic vinegar and process until incorporated and somewhat smooth.
- Season with salt and black pepper, adding in a little red pepper flakes, if you’d like, too.
Toppings
- Raise the temperature of the oven to 400ºF.
- Top the pre-baked flatbread with the basil balsamic pesto, spread evenly across the surface, the sliced peaches and goat cheese. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until lightly browned, to your liking. I like to place it under the broiler for a minute or two after it comes out of the oven, just to get a nice brown to the top.
- Sprinkle the fresh arugula overtop the flatbread and drizzle a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar over top as well, if you’d like. If you aren’t serving right away, hold off on adding the toppings since the olive oil and balsamic can make the crust soggy as it sits.
NOTES: feel free to swap the goat cheese for any cheese you can tolerate or simply leave it off. I have made this flatbread without the cheese and it’s just as good. Any stone fruit would be delicious on this flatfbread, so feel free to use whatever is most in season near you right now.
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Sarah @ Snixy Kitchen
What a beautiful dish; this flatbread is the next best thing to a comforting hug, especially since you covered it with ingredients you made with love in your garden.
Lora Martin
Thank you for sharing this recipe with us and sending a comforting hug to the Walkers. I made a variation tonight (pesto, fresh mozzarella, and home grown tomatoes) and will be making many more. This is one of the best flatbreads I’ve ever had, with grains or grain-free.
Rachel Brandt Fisher
This sounds so good any my four year old would be all about it. She loves fancy food and anything with goat cheese on it.
Lindsay Kerstin
What can I sub the tapioca with to make it scd legal?
Dan McElfresh
Great recipe!! I made just the flatbread for our Indian curry… Funny thing by complete accident I mixed up the ingredients and used 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar instead of what it was suppose to have…I turned out absolutely amazing!!