Hey Party-Makers,

Thank you for your patience this summer as we’ve been traveling and the posting has been down. For now, our big trips are out of the way though, so you can expect a lot of posts from here on out to squeeze in all the delicious tastes of summer.

Speaking of which, if I had to narrow down my favorite summer flavors, they would 1000% ALLLLLL be grilled. There is just something about a good char that is so exquisitely delicious. But here’s the thing: meat isn’t the only thing that you should be putting on your grill this year. Over the past month or so, I have been making flat bread almost on a weekly basis.

I don’t remember why I started craving it in the first place (tbh I probably saw a picture on instagram that got me lusting), but once I did I couldn’t stop until I found an easy way to make it. And after grilling pizza, and falling in love with the effects of our grill on dough, it seemed absolutely necessary to play around with a recipe for flatbread that grilled well.

Here’s why you should be grilling your flatbread/pizza dough

Conventional Italian pizzas are made over a very high heat. I’m talking 700-800 degrees, people (which is something you cannot do in a conventional oven). The effect that this has on your dough, is that it gives it that beautiful crispy char, while preserving a soft, doughy inside. Another reason to grill your dough, is because it literally takes like 4 minutes to make. Once you heat your grill to a temperature between 550-700, your flatbread cooks in about 4 minutes. FOUR MINUTES PEOPLE. All you have to do is brush it with olive oil and flip it at the halfway point.

Okay, okay that’s great, but what is the difference between flatbread and pizza & how do you eat flatbread?

I’m glad you asked. Technically they’re different because pizza dough takes a little more dough (and yeast) to make it rise a little more. But if you’re a thin crust person, this might be a good dough recipe for you to try out. Because of that, you can eat flatbread a few different ways. You can pile it with conventional pizza toppings, like this burrata, tomato, pesto, and spinach flatbread I made for lunch (cue drool on those charred edges).

Orrrrr, you could always make them for breakfast and top with sweet and savory toppings like I did for brunch one time. For reference, the toppings are: cream cheese, fried eggs, micro greens, dried rosemary, and turkey bacon + cream cheese, raspberry sauce, pistachios, and homemade lemon whipped cream.

I’ve also made them to pair with picnic foods, where you can dip or top them with almost everythingggg. I’m telling you, mi gente–I’ve been making these all. the. time. And, I mean, when they’re this versatile, I’m not banking on getting tired of them anytime soon.

So if you’ve been reading correctly, you can pretty much do whateverrrr you want with flatbread. And if that wasn’t the best news you’ve heard today, here it is:

You can add cheese to the dough to make it cheesy flatbread.

In the process of making the dough, you can add little extras as you see fit, because the dough recipe is SUPER flexible. Like, I haven’t messed it up yet. You just mix up all the regular ingredients, and add any others you might want once the dough is formed. My absolute favorite extras right now are rosemary + parmesan cheese.

Now to Making the Dough:

Ingredients:

1 C All-Purpose Flour

1 TSP Salt

1 TSP Instant Yeast

2 TSP Oil

1/2 C Hot Water

Instructions:

To make, combine all ingredients in a bowl until a soft dough is formed. Knead on a lightly floured surface until dough is elastic and smooth (about 3 minutes). Roll dough out, and begin to heat your grill (this recipe makes two small flatbreads or one large). You will want all your burners on, with the lid closed to achieve the highest temperature possible. Once the grill has heated up to at least 500 degrees, lightly brush flatbread with oil and place on grill oil side down. Cook covered for two minutes, oil top side, and flip. Turn off the heat after another two minutes. Serve warm and top with desired toppings or spreads.

Now go heat your grill up, mi gente! Summer is begging you to not let it go away without making some of these.

Love & Crispy Char,

Mary-Beth Johnson

Mary-Beth is a creative, food-obsessed, Georgia transplant living Chicago. She is proudly and fiercely Latina, and more specifically Chapina. In her day to day she is a food educator to students around Chicagoland aged 3 to 80+, both virtually and in-person. She is passionate about cultivating the truth that every person has an understanding of food that deserves being brought to the table, and that time in the kitchen can be sacred, passionate, and an act of love for self and others. Outside the kitchen you can find her at the intersections of infertility, chronic illness, and a deep love for the dignity of all humans. She hopes to create a space that is holistic about the role of food in the social, political, relational, and physiological dynamics of our world.