so today’s post is a twofer! do you know what a twofer is? well until recently i had no idea. and then i watched fashion star and good ol’ jessica simpson mentioned the word twofer (one of the designer’s skirts could be worn in two different ways). at first i was confused but once she explained the meaning of the word, i was sold. what a great little way to say “two for one.” i’m sure jessica simpson didn’t come up with the word, but i’m glad she introduced me to it. also, i’m pretty confident of the fact that you are judging me right now because i totally admitted that i watch fashion star, but hey don’t hate. i love me some quality reality television. 😉
so anyway, back to the twofer recipe – i made asparagus flatbread, two different ways. one is a roasted garlic and asparagus flatbread and the other is a ham, asparagus, and gruyere flatbread. both varieties of flatbread are chock full of beautiful sliced asparagus lightly dressed in olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. i just love how the asparagus gets nicely roasted and toasted as the flatbread bakes.
they are also both made on my go to whole wheat pizza dough. but that’s about where the similarities between these two flatbreads end. they taste drastically different but both are full of flavor and absolutely delightful.
the roasted garlic and asparagus flatbread starts with a scrumptious roasted garlic and basil cream cheese spread (you make it yourself!) and then mozzarella cheese and asparagus are piled on top.
the other one, ham, asparagus, and gruyere flatbread has of course ham and asapargus plus lovely dose of salty, nutty, melty gruyere cheese.
chris and i both couldn’t decide which we liked best because they were each so different than the other. but we both agreed that you can’t go wrong with either. so make one or the other or maybe even both! hope you enjoyed this twofer!
to start, make a batch of pizza dough – i made mine whole wheat, but you definitely don’t need to. both dough recipes make enough for 2 flatbreads so it’s the perfect recipe if you are planning on trying out both recipes. also get the asparagus ready for both flatbreads. just slice about 1/2 lb of asparagus per a flatbread. then dress it with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.
first up the roasted garlic and asparagus flatbread. to start, make the roasted garlic and basil cream cheese. all you need is 4 oz. of cream cheese, about 7-8 cloves of roasted garlic, and some fresh basil. first mash together the cream cheese, roasted garlic, and a little salt and pepper. then gently mix in the fresh basil.
once it’s all mixed together, set aside. a quick tip, be sure to make this at the beginning of the flatbread making process because it gives the flavors of the roasted garlic and basil to better blend together with the cream cheese.
now on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, press or roll out the dough (1/2 the dough if you’re using my dough recipe) into a large rectangle. spread the roasted garlic and basil cream cheese over the dough, making sure to leave about an inch border along the edges.
next sprinkle on about a cup of mozzarella cheese and a 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese.
now comes the asparagus and just a little more cheese and it’s ready to bake!
bake for 20-25 minutes at 400 degrees F.
the ham, asparagus, and gruyere flatbread starts of the same. roll out the dough into a large rectangle, but then put a cup of the mozzarella cheese right on to the dough. then add about a 1/2 cup of gruyere cheese. next, sprinkle on some diced ham. we made this soon after easter and it was a great way to use up some of the leftover ham we had.
pile on the asparagus and spread it out in an even layer over the ham and cheese.
finally, one last sprinkling of mozzarella cheese and in the oven it goes. bake at 400 degrees F for 20-25 minutes.
all done!
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