Tomato Basil Flatbread with Goat Cheese

One of my favourite things that I have eaten at a restaurant is the Old Spaghetti Factory's tomato basil flatbread with goat cheese.  It is so good!  Warm fresh flatbread, creamy goat cheese, tangy balsamic vinegar... just thinking about it makes me hungry.  But we don't eat out very often, and there are other restaurants we enjoy too, so we don't get to have their flatbread very often.

Naturally, I've been wanting to try making it myself for a long time, but since it promised to be a pretty involved process, I didn't have a chance to until just over a month ago.  We had a couple friends staying with us for the weekend, and we'd planned a big game of D&D.  It seemed like a pretty special occasion, since we love it when people come to stay for a while, and while we do still play D&D decently often, these days it's usually only one or two people who come over, and then we have a couple people who skype in to play.  But we were actually going to have everyone over in person for a change!

So I decided it was a good occasion for the flatbread.  I had to make up the recipe myself, but using some google resources, I felt up for the challenge!  Once again I had to use my poor quality phone camera to take pictures, but when one's toddler is in bed one does not jeopardize that just to sneak out the camera.  I should really learn to keep it somewhere else....


Tomato Basil Flatbread with Goat Cheese

There are two primary aspects of this kind of flatbread: the bread itself and the toppings.  I made the flatbread myself, but if you buy it premade it would make the recipe a lot easier.

I used our bread maker to make our regular bread dough recipe, then rolled the dough out on a tray.  I poked dents in the dough at regular intervals, then sprinkled it with olive oil and some dried basil and oregano.  I had been planning to mix the herbs right into the bread dough, but I forgot so I put them on top.  Then I baked the bread in a 425 degree oven for 15 minutes.

While the bread baked, I started to prepare the toppings.  I chose caramelized onions, balsamic reduction, grape tomatoes, pesto, and goat cheese.

To make caramelized onions, slice your onion into rings and fry slowly in butter, stirring frequently until the onions are soft and darker in colour.

Balsamic reduction is made by boiling balsamic vinegar.  Bring some balsamic vinegar to a boil in a pot, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until it starts to thicken.

I cut my grape tomatoes in half.  It would be possible to use sun dried tomatoes or slices of regular sized tomatoes instead.

The pesto and goat cheese don't need much prep.

My flatbread, out of the oven and ready for toppings!  I layered it with the pesto and onions, then crumbled on the goat cheese and dotted the tomatoes on top.  Then into the oven for another couple minutes until the cheese and tomatoes were softened.  Then I drizzled the balsamic reduction on top.

Ready to serve!

I would have loved to use fresh basil as well, but I didn't have any at the time.  Also next time I would like to try putting the toppings on the uncooked flatbread and baking it all at the same time.  I found that the tomatoes took longer than I expected to soften, so I think that the bread got a little overcooked.  But it was still good!

What's a recipe that you have been wanting to try for a long time?