Tonight’s meal was something new for us to try… and was introduced to me by a friend on my motorcycle forum. So, special thanks to Deric for this one.
Balsamic Strawberry and Mozzarella Flatbread
Here’s what you’ll need:
- 1 Pint fresh strawberries hulled and thinly sliced
- 2 TBSP aged balsamic vinegar or balsamic vinegar reduction
- freshly ground black pepper
- 6 – 6” pita or flatbread rounds (Whole Wheat or White)
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Coarse Kosher Salt
- 5 two inch fresh mozzarella balls
- 5 fresh basil leaves
The above is the basic set of ingredients… you’ll see here in a little bit that you can make tons of changes to the recipe…
First, you need to get the strawberries ready…
Once you get the strawberries ready, put them in a non-reactive bowl with 2 TBSP of Aged Balsamic Vinegar and a dash of freshly ground pepper.
I found a nice Balsamic Vinegar at the grocery store that was aged 4 years in wood barrels… good stuff.
Next, get the oven preheated to 400 degrees. While it’s preheating, let the strawberries hang out and get happy on the counter for 10-30 minutes.
This is also a good time to do a bit more prep work… let’s start with the pitas. You’ll want to grab your handy-dandy pastry brush and a small bowl of extra virgin olive oil. Brush both sides of the pitas with the oil and give them each a nice little dash of kosher salt.
After those are oiled and salted, put them on a cookie sheet and place them to the side until the oven is preheated. Now, cut up your mozzarella ball(s). I got one large ball… about 3 inches in diameter… but…in any case, you’ll want to cut the mozzarella into 1/2 inch slices…
By now, the oven should be heated to 400… so toss the cookie sheet full of oiled and salted pitas into the oven for about 2 minutes… at this point, you just want to soften them up…
After you’ve softened them up, I’d recommend cutting them in half or in quarters if you want appetizer sized slices… halves if you’re planning to make these your main meal.
Put a slice of two of cheese on each pita and toss them back into the oven until things get all happy and melty.
Add your chopped fresh basil to the strawberry mix and top each melty, cheesy pita with the strawberry mixture.
It’s really that easy…..
Now.. my tasting notes… following this recipe… the dish is pretty dang tasty…. Our strawberries weren’t the sweetest ones we’ve had lately… and I think with sweeter berries, there would have bee a sharper contrast with the berries and the balsamic vinegar… as it was, the berries were a little tart.. so there wasn’t a bunch of contrast between the berries and the vinegar.
The basil adds a nice bit of spiciness to the dish… but you can change it in a few other ways as well…. I gave one a dose of hot sauce… very tasty… a dash of cayenne pepper… awesome.
I could see making this dish with peaches… or apricots…. and a dessert version could be made with cream cheese instead of mozzarella and a sweet fruit mixture… maybe with a sugar / cinnamon mixture on it…
All in all, I really like this concoction and the versatility of it… you really aren’t limited in what you can do with it… so.. if you find something else interesting to do with it, you let me know.
We paired our food with a nice sparkling Prosecco tonight…
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