Say that five times fast. Then take a bite of the most delicious appetizer I think I have ever served.
The recipe is adapted from The Frugal Foodie Cookbook, written by Alanna Kaufman and Alex Small, aka the bloggers Two Fat Als. I met Alex and Alanna at the Union Square Farmer Farmer’s Market a few weeks ago, where they were selling their book and cooking up Eggplant Pasta. Once I learned that Alex is a med student at Mt Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, I knew I had to buy his book. (Even though I passed up the pasta – Y’all know my feelings on eggplant…) I was so excited – another medical food blogger! And with a book deal!
Alex and Alanna, a law student at Columbia University, met while undergrads at the University of Pennsylvania, and created all their recipes in their book while living on a student budget. Each recipe in the book has a little story attached and a cost breakdown per serving. Most of the recipes appear to be originals. The book’s introductory chapter (much too short, in my opinion) reveals the Als’ secrets for saving money while eating well – like making their own stock and breadcrumbs, using leftovers wisely, freezing herbs and making their own bread.
Of course, frugality (and regular bread making) is best accomplished by those with little financial resources but lots of free time. Students fall nicely into that category. It’s much harder being frugal while working 10-12 hour days, and even harder once you start taking night call. So it will be interesting to see how Alex and Alanna adapt their frugal lifestyles once the demands of residency and the law firm begin to take their toll. Hopefully by then, they will have the resources they need to enjoy being foodies without the luxury of free time.
Fig and Fontina Flatbread with Rosemary
The Fat Als use this Mark Bittman pizza dough recipe for their wonderful appetizer. That particular dough recipe calls for instant yeast. Since I only had active dry yeast, my recipe calls for proofing the yeast first. I’ve also adapted the original recipe by adding fresh rosemary and a generous sprinkle of salt and black pepper. Although The Als’ recipe calls for half figs, I’ve found that it is better to use fig slices, so that the juices find their way onto the bread while it is cooking. Next time I’ll use even more rosemary.
The recipe below makes two large cookie sheet size breads with a slightly puffy crust. If you like your crusts thin, as we do, you can split the dough into thirds and roll it out thinner, making three smaller breads from the same batch of dough. You’ll need to watch it more closely as the ends will cook quickly.
This bread goes great with a cold beer.
For the dough –
1 package active dry yeast
1/4 cup hot water (100 degrees – very hot tap water will do)
A pinch of sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour (I used King Arthur’s bread flour); more as needed
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus a little more
2 teaspoons coarse kosher or sea salt
3/4 cup water
For the topping-
1 cup shredded Fontina cheese
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/2 lb. black mission figs
Fresh rosemary
Salt and pepper
Pour 1/4 cup hot water into a small bowl. Sprinkle the yeast on top along with a pinch of sugar. Give a quick stir and let sit till bubbles rise. Combine flour, salt, olive oil and activated yeast in a food processor. Begin processing and add 3/4 cup water through feed tube. Process, adding a little more water if necessary, until mixture forms a slightly sticky ball.
Turn dough onto a floured work surface, and knead to form a smooth, round ball. Put dough ball in a bowl, and cover with a clean damp towel. Let rise until dough doubles in size, 1-2 hours.
Just before the dough is done rising, preheat your oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit. Slice the figs by cutting them in half lengthwise (de-stem the ends with the knife if needed), then trimming the backsides flat, so you end up with nice thick slices with skins just around the edges. Divide dough in half and roll it onto lightly oil-greased baking sheets. Rub a little olive oil over the doughs, and divide cheese and figs among them. Sprinkle generously with fresh rosemary, salt and freshly ground pepper. Bake in the oven on the top shelf for 8-10 minutes, until golden. Cut into squares using a pizza cutter and serve.
This looks/sounds wonderful. I want to hurry and make this while we can still find fresh figs. Thanks so much for sharing!
Deb in Chicagoland
We couldn't stop eating this. I especially liked the thinner, outside pieces that got nice and crispy. Try it, you'll love it.
Don't know if I could stomach the figs but I am so wanting to try to make flatbread! Especially if it looks this good. Reminds me of the flatbreads at Earth Bread & Brewery! I have never in my life used, let alone purchased yeast but I am going to make this flatbread and overcome the yeast challenge!
XO, OBS Housekeeper
Deb –
let us know how it turns out.
Thanks for reading.
Grandma –
Can't wait to see what you do with this recipe when you get your hands on it.
OBS –
If you don't like figs (how could you not like figs??????) try just the cheese and some herbs.
This is the easiest dough to make and work with!
Yeah, if you don't like figs try them _wrapped in bacon_ for a fancy appetizer. :::swoon:::
What is the name of the thing, like She sells sea shells … and Frugal Fig Flatbread? Because FFF takes the cake – I can handle all the others but can't wrap my tongue around this one for the life of me.
Doc, SO good to have you back!!! We missed you!
It looks fantastic. I make my own stock though I don't have as much time as I did in preclin….but I make such enormous quantities that I can freeze that it totally makes up for it. Ditto with cooking pulses in a pressure cooker. As long as I check it somewhat regularly I don't have to watch it like a hawk so can multitask and do other things at the same time.
Ok, I'll give this a try…but I am very lazy when it comes to yeast, and I only have one day to cook, clean get everything ready for my Marathon Sunday brunch. Can you give any hints for a substitute dough I can buy?
BTW, I just popped the pumpkin-ginger breads in the oven, ordered my brussel spouts and bacon from Fresh Direct, brought the fish home from Chinatown….
– Fresh figs are SOOO much better than Fig Newtons!! They are soft and sitlhlgy sweet. I don’t know how to describe the flavor it’s a light and unique, but so good!
Carrie –
The N Y Times made a nice flatbread recently using prepared puf pastry
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/30/dining/301arex.html
Have fun in the kitchen!
oh, wow….can’t wait to try this when i can get my hands on some fresh figs! (being old and lazy, i’m also thinking of using the fresh pizza dough from trader joe’s.) yum! thanks for your wonderful recipes!!